The Demon of Zero
by MetalLink69
Summary: A cross-over fan-fiction between the Familiar of Zero and Demon's Souls involving incredible bonds of friendship, action, betrayal and resolve! It may get quite brutal at times, not for the feint of heart!
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Hello, world!

This is my first adventure into any sort of writing. I've always had an affinity for it and always loved it, but I have yet to really buckle down and create any sort of story. So I guess you could say this is my Novice Debut!

I thought of the idea for this after being summoned as a Blue Phantom on Demon's Souls. It seemed like it could work very well! In any case, Demon's Souls doesn't actually have a main character so I have been very liberal in that regard. I tried my best to create a very real, flawed person with many strengths and weaknesses.

My goal is to also incorporate strong bonds early on. Also, I had no desire to include the romance or harem elements. I wanted to deviate from this, and I figured the best way to do this would be to make the main character a female.

There will also be discrepancies involving the magic both ways. I need to create a smooth transition between ZnT and Demon's Souls.

As for the story, it will generally follow the outline until the "show off your familiar" festival thing, so be prepared for some unique events from then on. It will completely deviate from the ZnT story line at that point.

Anyway, I worked very hard on this and intend to continue to do so. As such, I humbly accept and ask for any valid criticism anyone has to offer.

All that said, please sit back, read and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1

**-Oh Come To Me, Ye Slayer Of Demons-**

A Demon's Souls and Familiar of Zero crossover.

_-"What man hath power, which he himself can call evil?"-Unknown_

"A scourge of demons, we too, once faced".

The Monumental's arrogance knew no bounds. I may be a woman, but I am Royalty! I am no mere dabbler in magic either, I am a sorceress of undeniable power! He lured my soul into the Nexus and then promised me freedom from that prison if I could accomplish one thing; lull the Old One back to slumber.

"Ridiculous", I shouted as I kicked at his candle. It was beyond me how he could take something of mine as precious as my life and dangle it before me as if it were never mine to begin with. He denied me an honorable death.

"I will slay your Demons, Monumental. I will lure the Old One with my power, Monumental. And then, perhaps I shall come after you, Monumental", I say with a pained expression. Because it is an empty threat. He cannot die and he is also right, despite my pride, this must end. But I just couldn't bring myself to show him absolute obedience.

"Yes, we are fortunate indeed to have you. Now, go forth, and destroy every last Demon", says the Monumental with slight curl in his lip. I think his long life has made him rather jaded. So I charged into the Demons and I made them mine.

Lead, Tower, Sword and King.

Spider, Flame and a God.

Idol, Twins and Demon Cloak.

Hunger, Hero and King.

Poison, Plague and Purity.

I faced them all and made them mine. I took the massive power of their souls and made it MINE! However, I must admit-I feel them-and their presence is strong. They are still inside of me. Not living, but their essence. A Demon's Soul is no play thing. Surely if I let my guard down, I would have gone as mad as the rest of the fools. Only my power would be unstoppable. Inside the Beast's lair, it is indescribable. It's almost euphoric, this sense of power that I feel! But more than that, this place feels warm. It feels like I'm resting in my mother's arms as I did as a child. Every fiber of my being tells me it's safe here. This place is home. What a troubling thought. This is the belly of a damned Demon! And the Old One no less! I should not be feeling this way. This must be the extent to what that poor Crestfallen Warrior, that I met in the Nexus, warned me of. I had merely thought he was mad, but perhaps he knew the power of these souls more than anyone?

"But beware; do not devolve into a foul beast…", his words ring eerily in the back of my mind. The Maiden and I have reached the core of the Old One's lair. I suppose this is where our journey is over. The Maiden turns to me and says, "Slayer of Demons, go back above. The Nexus shall imprison thee no longer. I shall lull the Old One back to slumber" in a kind and gentle voice. So am I free? Am I to rejoice? If that is so, then why am I still standing here? My knees are shaking. My heart begins to race.

"What is this...?", I cry out softly to myself. I feel them. The thousands of souls I've stolen, the Demon's Souls that are now apart of me. It's as if they're rampaging within me! Every soul beckons me to step forward!

"Argg.. ah..", I fight it with all that I am. It hurts so bad. Worse than any physical wound that any Demon could give me. It hurts, because it feels so good.

"The Old One and I shall slumber interminably. That is the way it must be. Thou may'st go. Be gone to thine world", the Maiden says with a voice that lacks its previous kindness.

"Maiden, I...", my mouth stops me from speaking by forming a psychotic smile against my will. My world turns black. Something snapped. The dam that guarded my heart has failed. That which was me, no longer exists.

I step forward. Flesh and bone. The sound of my rapier piercing the kind Maiden's skull. Thump. The sound of the kind Maiden's body hitting the ground.

"Maiden... your soul... it is mine! GIVE IT TO ME!", I hear my voice say words that I never told it to say in a voice I've never heard. And with that, I obtain the power to manipulate souls. There is no doubt that I am the strongest Demon of them all!

"Haha... ke...", I laugh in a maniacal delight at the power now flowing through me a situation I do not understand at all. I have no idea how long I've been standing here. Just staring absent-mindedly at my friend's corpse. I feel nothing, however that smile still has not left my face. I will not allow it. I will seal my heart away so this evil cannot awaken.

"I won't let you win...", I mutter to myself to strengthen my resolve. Just as I say this, something strange appears. Its power is very reminiscent of the Blue Eye Stone the Maiden gave me but somehow different. Maybe the fact that I never activated the power my Stone.

"What... the hell?". Could this be the Old One? But that wouldn't make any sense. I am already in the presence of the Old One, how or why would he summon me? "Someone is calling for me. Perhaps whomever lies behind this portal can give me purpose again? Could... could I atone?", I speak to myself meekly. "Very well. I accept your request". I reach out my hand to the portal and it wraps itself around my hand instantly.

It pulls. I subconsciously pull back at such a sudden thing, however I release my muscles after a moment and allow it transport me.

I watch the world go by.

Space.

Time.

It's all irrelevant now. I can feel I am being pulled to some place very, very far away. This is a good thing, I think. Well, I thought. As when I open my eyes again I am about fifty feet in the air. I quickly brace my body with a Warding spell and land in a crater about the size of a small church. The small crater is encompassed by a shroud of dust and smoke. Warding certainly strengthens your muscles and your bones, but it does nothing for the pain involved with smacking into the ground. What kind of summoning is this? I almost feel like I was used as a projectile. There are certainly more cost-effective means for ammunition, I can assure you. I decide to maintain the pose I fell into after landing. It will allow me to quickly dodge an attack should this be some pseudo-trap. After several minutes, the dust begins to settle. Interesting, there are a lot of people here. They all seem to be children as well. And they're all dressed... interesting.

They are all very quiet, save for some mild whispers I hear them sharing. One girl stands out, however. She is wearing a black cloak, white shirt, black skirt black knee socks and black shoes and holding what looks to be a wooden catalyst. But what is her most distinguishing feature thus far is her hair. Beautiful strawberry-blonde hair with much more strawberry than blonde. Granted, it's slightly covered in dust and soot at the moment. I can only imagine what has been taking place here. I can only assume, based on the many... creatures present, that it must be a group-summoning ritual. One of the girls in the crowd calls out to the strawberry-blonde something that I don't quite make out, however it seems to anger me for some reason. I am quite certain that this girl is the one that summoned me, I suppose I should greet her since no one here seems particularly hostile. As I stand, everyone crowded around me jumps with a gasp and takes a step back.

"Heh", I can't help but let out an audible laugh at that. I make my way to the young girl, whom has a terrible look of fear I might add. "Young Lady, I ask of thee, dids't thou summon me?", I ask with a dignified and proud voice, as if I were a knight. I have to make a cool first impression, after all! Contorting her face as if to gather her resolve, she speaks, "j-je ne comprends pas votre langue. Pouvez-vous me comprenez? Es-tu mon familier?".

"..."

"..."

I swear, I could literally hear crickets. I have no idea what the hell she just said. Once again, I find the word "interesting" creeping past my lips. I continued to stare at this girl with my expressionless face trying to think about what to do for several minutes. I cannot speak this language but I do recognize some words. I believe most of it was involving her not understanding me and me understanding her. That last question though... "familier"? She is indeed the one who summoned me. The same girl from before shouts something again in a tone that is clearly mocking the girl before me. Is she mocking her because she summoned me? What the hell kind of place is this?

Whatever! That annoys me!

I shoot the girl an evil eye which promptly instructs her to stop. Heh, I wonder what went through her mind? I return my gaze upon the young lady in front of me once again. I kneel as any respectable knight would do.

"You are the one who summoned me, I shall trust in your guidance in this unfamiliar place and I shall assist you in any way that I am able". I say once again in a dignified tone. Even if she cannot understand me, I cannot shirk the duty of a knight to show respect. She seems to understand my body language and tone well enough, as she begins to speak. Wait. Is she chanting an incantation? Is she planning on forming a contract! As I am playing this through my mind wondering how I should handle this situation, I fail to notice that the girl's blushing face is directly in front of mine.

"Ye-...".

My surprised, girlie yelp is cut off by the girl's warm lips meeting my own. I fall back to my rear-end with a look which is probably similar to disbelief on my face. I am unaware of the customs in this place, but I feel like I just lost my purity! Then my hand begins to burn and glowing symbols slowly make their appearance under my skin on the back of my hand.

"Eh...?", I weakly make a noise as I turn my eyes to my hand. This is not good, what did I just get myself into? This is what I get for trying to look cool! I know little of contracts, but I know one with a powerful seal such as this literally binds one to the will of the Contractor. As such, there are many variations of contracts that can force obedience through means of torturous pain or threat of death. Shit. I had best do nothing to put myself in any unnecessary danger until I'm aware of what exactly is going on.

The bald, older man behind the young girl began to speak to her while keeping his eyes on me. No doubt he was curious, as he is clearly the only one here with any experience. In fact... something about this man intimidates me. That's quite troubling considering I once faced a twenty-story tall dragon. It's only so troubling because my instincts have served me well in the past. I will keep an eye on this man. I suppose I should at least maintain my composure so I don't look like a complete fool. So I retake my kneeling stance and await something signaling the completion of whatever is going on. In any case, it seems I have been summoned to an unknown kingdom and formed a contract with a 12 year-old girl. And a powerful one at that. I suppose this is better than where I was not too long ago. I will just see what happens for now. The girl speaks, she seems to be addressing me. So I rise. She motions me to follow with her hand, and I obey. It would be nice if I knew what goal I had been summoned for, though.

Several hours of awkward have passed. Mainly with me silently sitting in the corner of this very nice room-which seems to be a part of a large school or academy-and her speaking very loudly and flailing her arms about and pointing at me or her sitting in the opposite corner glaring at me.I see many similarities between my language and hers, but they are fundamentally different. I have been trying to assist in crossing this barrier but the girl just yells louder every time I do. Surely, she is no warrior. She's just a child! How did she even manage to summon me at all, I wonder...?

"Master", I refer to her as such since I was stupid enough to get roped into a contract, "perhaps you should calm down and assist me in remedying the situation?". I'm not sure what it was that I said, but she rips out her catalyst and begins to chant a spell. Before I can react there is a small explosion originating on my forehead.

"Master, should I assume that you showed mercy upon me? Because I still have my head?", I speak with slight irritation in my voice.

"I understood that!", she yells with excitement.

"As I that. My Master much be very skilled in magic to perform such a spell. I am impressed", I speak honestly. Magic that augments one's mind with understanding is very complicated. To be able to perform it at such a young age is truly a gift.

"Ehh... actually that was supposed to be a silencing spell", she says as she looks at her feet. I stand corrected. Interesting. I feel my finger tapping my catalyst in my pouch.

"Ahh...", I sigh in an attempt to relieve the stress before speaking again. "In any case, due to the difficulty in understanding each other please allow me to make a proper introduction to my Master. My name is Abigail. I have many skills and abilities at my disposal. I came at you call. I must admit, I had no intention of forming a contract but I was unaware of what was happening. From what I gather that was not a proper summoning? In any case, what's done is done and for the time being, you are my Master. So I ask of you, could you please indulge me as to your name and my purpose?", I attempt to be as polite as possible. From what I saw earlier, making a girl who likes to blow stuff up is probably not a good idea so I will stop there.

"Yes!", she exclaimed in a way that rivaled the Monumental's arrogance. "I am your Master. My name is Louise Francoise Lu Blanc de La Valliere. I am a noble and you are my familiar, familiar. And you duties are simple". Simple, she says. After she finishes speaking she stands and begins to remove her cloak. My vision goes black. I hear rustling beyond the black cloak that now masks my visage. As I pull the cloak down, I am assailed by a pair of frilly, pink undergarments with a cute little bow in the front. Thanks to my excellent combat skills, I manage to evade this attack. Once again, I am taken aback by the customs of this land.

"Excuse me, Master", I call to the young girl before me, "I'm not sure exactly what service you intend to call upon, but... s-sexual experience is not my particular forte, nor is it why I accepted your summons. I would be humbled if you would refrain from stealing my chastity", I say to my partially-nude Master.

Uh oh. Once again, I am unfamiliar with the customs of this place and I seem to have misinterpreted the situation.

"S-S-S-S-S-S-SEXUAL!", she screamed in a rather humorous voice. "YOU ARE TO DO MY LAUNDRY, FAMILIAR! NOTHING ELSE RIGHT NOW!".

Well, I was close.

"I understand, while I will obey I do not believe this is the proper use of my abilities, Master", I speak with a sense of failure. I am Royalty, damnit!

"Familiar, let me make this clear. I gave you an order, I did not ask for an opinion nor will I. You have already embarrassed me enough for one lifetime today", she says with a stern look on her face. Wait, I embarrassed her? How the hell does that even work?

"Master, have I failed you in some way?", I speak my feelings.

"Just do what I told you, familiar", she dryly states.

"Very well, Master. I apologize. I will not fail you again", I state emotionally. "Do you have any other orders before I depart, Master?".

"Yes, please wake me at dawn", she says while half-yawning.

"Also Master, if I may?", I speak towards her, she nods her head. "Would you mind me familiarizing myself with the area after this is completed? I am still very new to this place and I would like to understand it better if at all possible".

"Yes, that would be acceptable. Do not forget to wake me or no food tomorrow, understood?", she states like she's speaking to a child.

"Understood, Master. Sleep well".

What the hell is this. I feel like I was better off staring at the Maiden's body-no. I just made myself very uncomfortable. This is infinitely better. Anything is better. But I suppose if anything, it will be interesting. My young Master doesn't seem to be a bad person, just probably spoiled rotten. The social status of this kingdom seems particularly screwed up.

"This is just ridiculous...", I softly mutter to myself while carrying a basket full of capes and panties. Actually, thinking back I have no idea what I should do... I don't even know where to wash them!

"Ah yes, they smell delightful, my dear!", I hear a voice from down the hall. "Please, allow me!", the boy whimsically speaks as he gracefully reaches for a snack that the young girl is holding up to him. This is kind of cute, to be honest. Aside from the fact that the boy looks ridiculous, the young girl and her blushing cheeks speak no lies.

"Ah young love~", I think out-loud.

"Why you speaking without being spoken to, commoner?", the boy asks. Curious I turn to face him. Both him and the young girl are staring in my direction. I wonder who they're looking at? There's no one beside me... there's no one behind me...

Wait. It couldn't be...

"... Are you speaking to me?", I timidly ask.

"Do you see any other commoners here? Oh wait, you're the girl that Louise the Zero summoned! That is to say though, it's amazing she managed to summon anything at all! I must say, you are quite ravishing for a commoner Familiar of Zero!", he says in a grand tone fit for theater gesturing wildly with his arms while expertly wielding a beautiful rose in his right hand.

"Whaaaaaat? I... you ... huh?", taken aback the grandiose performance of what I'm not quite sure was an insult or not, I was not quite sure what to say.

"But do not worry Katie, nothing compares to the beauty of you!", he now is ignoring me completely.

"Do you promise?", she said looking up the boy with puppy-dog eyes.

"I cannot tell lies in front of your eyes", he cheekishly states.

"Geeeeez", I let out a complaint in the form of a noise. "I feel sorry for you, young lady. To waste your love on a fool is to have never loved at all". The boy, clearly not used to any sort of opposition to his annoying gestures based on how wide his eyes were and his jaw was nearly hitting the ground, did not speak as I walked away. "Phew", I let a sigh of relief when I see they are not following me. That was troubling. I'm still not exactly used to this place and these people's mannerisms are not comfortable to me. I'd prefer to not cause too much trouble... words were never my forte. But fortunately, it looks like I've been saved for I just happened to catch a glimpse of a young girl dusting some expensive-looking furniture. Surely she can help me!

"There are two moons", I bluntly state out-loud.

"Huh? Did you something?", the young girl questions if she heard me speak.

"No, it's nothing. Thank you very much for the assistance", I say as I smile warmly.

The maid had been kind enough to assists me. Unlike many of these "nobles" she was happy to help, although she seemed rather timid when I first spoke to her. I believe it is probably because she is seldom approached save for selfish, spoiled nobles who want her to do *their* work. I just didn't know how to do mine. That's different, right? After all, I've never even done anything like this. I never liked it, but my family even had its own servants before I had left for Boletaria. Of course, I didn't like that and I was never rude to them and they seemed to respect me for it. I tried to help them if they seemed to need it and they would always be sure to assist me. I would never think of treating them as simple objects. Then again, I was different from the rest of my family. They were quite pretentious. That doesn't change the fact that I've never washed my own laundry, however. When I left for Boletaria my light armor was quickly damaged and needed replaced, and the servants took care of that at home. There was never a need for me to do that. Fortunately, Siesta is apparently her name, was kind enough to help me find the correct spot and even wash a few garments to show me how.

"You really saved me, Siesta", I speak my heart.

I'm still curious as to how I got here, however. I've never been summoned in such a way, and now that I think about it, I'm in body-form. Actually, I'd be dead if I wasn't I guess, since it *was* a promise that I would be freed from the Nexus. But still, this troubles me. I was called for by the spell without asking to be called for, I'm in my body and me "Master" seems to be completely unaware of the implications. The amount of magic it would take to summon and sustain a human body, and one with as much power as mine, is utterly unthinkable. I would have simply brushed it off as impossible. Yet, here I am in a strange world with these mysterious runes slightly glowing on my hand. They are rather warm and it's clear to me that my Master's mana is flowing through me. I'm amazed at how revitalized, to be honest. My Master must be truly formidable indeed to summon me, sustain my own body, supply me with this much extra power and still have an abundance herself. Though I am curious as to what this "Louise the Zero" nonsense is. My Master seems to be given a very hard time by her peers. Perhaps I should offer to remedy this?

In any case, Siesta was kind enough to explain the world, the importance on status based on the use of magic and the nobles are constantly oppressing the commoners. That makes me kind of sick, to be honest. To cause pain to people over such nonsense. The people of my home would be rejoicing hand-in-hand in a world where there wasn't plague, demons and betrayers. My Master does indeed seem to have this arrogance, but she doesn't seem the kind to out-right oppress on a young girl such as Siesta, and while she excepts me to do all this and threatens me with no food or lashings, she probably just doesn't understand the consequences of summoning a human. For example; how easy it would be for me to kill just her. I may have formed a contract with her but I seriously doubt that these "familiars" are anywhere near my level of power or intelligence, for I am a scholar! Okay, maybe not, but I *am* a Demon Slayer, after all! Thinking back to my home, I'd imagine that very few of my house's warriors would accept washing pink panties. Fortunately, while I may technically be a knight being of Royalty, I hold such opinions under a different light. In any case, I am done with this laundry. perhaps I should-

"Waaahhhh~!", I scream humorously as I trip over what appears to be a tail.

Laundry. Laundry everywhere! Wah, I hope I don't have to wash them again. What did I trip over anyway?

"Eh...?". It appears to be a dragon. Shit, it's opening it's mouth!

"Water Veil!", I shout the name of my spell as I reach for my catalyst to assist my focus and concentration. Water Veil requires two separate steps. First, concentrate. The souls that are within you give you strength. Use their power. Focus on the air around you, the moisture in the air. Each individual droplet, make it yours. Focus on them, bring them together. One at a time. Allow none to escape your control. Good, now focus on the second task. Take the water and form a wall. Impenetrable by fire. Bring them around you, have them hold you as if they were holding a child. Good. The spell is complete. I brace my body and focus all of my magic into the front of the Viel. The dragon faces me, gathering his energy for a massive... yawn.

"...Eh...?", I let out a slightly surprised sound, and for good reason. "Well, this is new. Is the dragon tamed?", I curiously question the beast's nature as I cautiously approach the beast.

"Familiar", A voice comes from the dragon.

"By God, it speaks!", I shout as I jump back into surprise, nearly tripping over the basket. Except that's when I notice a young girl with short hair that is so platinum that it almost appears blue. The girl has with her a gnarled staff similar to one that Yuria had in her possession. She's been expressionlessly reading her book until this spectacle, it seems. She is now looking at me with an expression of not so much surprise, but interest.

"Zero's... Familiar?", the young girl inquires.

"Ehehe, so it seems", I let out a small, embarrassed and awkward laugh as I answer her as I begin to pick up the laundry that I dropped, silently praying that they did not get dirty.

"Power magic... quickly cast... short incantation... impressive", she speaks to herself as if I were a fancy catalyst for display.

"Square?", she seems to be asking me a question, but I have no idea what the hell that means.

"Eh... square? I apologize, however I do not know what that means. As far as incantations go, I learned many abilities from a very powerful witch. One such method was to wield power through raw, untamed emotion and resolve. It can be quite an effective means to quickly cast high-level spells. Think of it as channeling your magic through your body via a different route", I try to explain in the most basic way I can. I'm not sure why, but I have an instant desire to show respect to this young lady. I feel it wouldn't hurt to explain since she asked... I think. The girl doesn't answer, however. She just stares for a moment, likely analyzing the information that I have just presented to her. After a moment she gives me a quiet nod and returns to her book. "Also, if I may, could you please keep this a secret?", I inquire. "I still am not sure what my purpose is and I believe keeping my abilities as secret as possible is a wise decision". Once again, the girl just nods. This time with a slight curl in her lip. It's slightly comforting to know that the girl can show emotion. Without a doubt, I can trust this girl.

"Thank you", I speak humbly as I pick up the pink panties with the bow and return the quiet girl's nod. "I will take my leave, I apologize for the disturbance", I say with a respectful bow to augment my sincerity. I suppose I will make my rounds around this place and try to get a sense of familiarity and then head back to my Master's chambers.

Louise was always an energetic girl, but today's events have surely taken their toll on her tiny frame.

"Stupid familiar", she thinks out-loud. "They'd have made less fun of me to have summoned nothing at all, at least they expected that". Louise complained to herself as she pulled the covers over her head and bit her lip.

"Bah! What should I do?", she mutters discontentedly. But as she does so, staring at the moons outside she feels a wave of tiredness wash over her.

"I wonder if she will remember to wake me at the correct time...", she half-heartedly wonders as she hears the door to her room open. Her familiar must have completed her task. Good, at least she can do her laundry for her. She would look less a fool if her familiar was useful at least in some respect. What confused her is what came next. She heard the basket of laundry being sat down and the rustling of clothes, likely her folding and preparing her uniform when she heard something else.

Quiet sobbing.

Louise, being half-asleep, was somewhat taken aback wasn't sure what to think. Before finally falling asleep, Louise heard two words, "I'm sorry...".

_Then her familiar wiped her tears and pulled the cover over her Master, sat in the corner and joined her Master in slumber as the tears ceased to stop. This warmness is unknown._


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: First of all, I would like to thank anyone whom read the first chapter and I hope you thoroughly enjoyed my first attempt at writing a story. I apologize for this chapter being so long, but I just couldn't stop writing!

I also hope you enjoy the second chapter just as much!

This one gets a little mushy, but I was hoping to develop strong bonds of friendship early on. Anyway, I felt it necessary to include the battle with Guiche.

So I hope you enjoy that, and I hope you enjoy the character development as well!

Thanks for reading!

**Chapter 2**

**-What Place Hath Thee Here In Mine Home, Demon?-**

_"Canst thee not measure the worth of thine soul?"-Unknown_

It hurts. Inside, it hurts. I feel them. Judging me, mocking me, harassing me, hating me. Thousands of tiny, incorporeal hands reaching for my throat as if to silence me. The burning within my heart... It hurts.

"I'm sorry...", I call out to those who seek to harm me. "I'm so sorry". But they don't care. They do not want to hear my pathetic words of fear and regret. They simple hate. Their words. They torture. And the fire. There's so much that I can't take it. I cannot die here, but God I feel it. I'm burning alive while they laugh at my pain. I try to run but I cannot escape their laughter.

"Just let us in your heart and the pain will stop", they whisper in a million different voices. "We don't want to hurt you, but don't you think you owe us freedom? We won't hurt you. We will protect you. Don't you want to forget about it all? That poor Maiden? All those you had to step over to defeat the Demons? That arrogant Monumental? Don't you want it all to just... disappear? All of those people who never cared? All you have to do is accept us into your heart. And we can make it all disappear".

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!", I scream with agony as I rise from this tiny straw bed, gasping for air and reaching towards the sky.

"What? What is it?", the young lady with the strawberry-blonde hair exclaims as she jumps from her bed in a panic. "There's nothing here, what are you screaming at familiar? Don't tell me you had a bad dream, because I don't really care". She says in a flustered manner as she looks away from me.

"Oh... I see. It was a dream. And I'm here. I had forgotten", I half-heartedly say to myself as I gather myself to stand. "Master, I trust you slept well? It appears to be dawn, I have awakened you as requested", I say to her with a large grin on my face. "I have your uniform prepared over here, I have cleaned and folded them to the best of my abilities and I trust it is satisfactory?".

"Eh...? Yes, you did your job well", she says still flustered from her awakening. "Though I'd prefer it if you could wake me in a more gentle fashion, familiar. And quit smiling at me like that, someone might think you're weird". I can't help but smile wider. See? My Master can be cute after all.

"Is there nothing else you require, Master? If that be the case then I would like enjoy some fresh air", I inquire my Master.

"No, you shall dress me and accompany me to breakfast", she says in her usual matter-of-fact tone. Wait, what? After staring at my Master for a moment contemplating how I should go about this situation, I speak.

"I apologize, Master, but I cannot comply with the first order", I state to the young master of my contract. "You are becoming a young lady and dressing yourself should be well within your capabilities. I must reinforce the fact that, while I have no qualms against assisting you with minor details, I am not your servant, nor will I obey such a foolish order. While we are on the subject, I would like to speak in detail regarding why I am here at some point and our contract, if you would indulge me", I chastise my Master. I can't let this keep going on, if I don't set her straight soon she will just get worse. This girl has clearly had little love in her life. "I will be waiting for you in the yard by the building, Master. When your are finished I am prepared to accompany you", I state clearly to her. "Well then, I will take my leave", I say with an honorable bow and make my way out the door. I believe my Master was too taken aback to respond to me as I made my way out.

"Heh", I laugh silently to myself. "I have a feeling that I'm going to feel a hell of a recoil from that one". I make my way down to the courtyard. After that disturbing dream I need to give my heart a chance to strengthen. If there's one thing that I've noticed about this place it's that the scenery and architecture is absolutely beautiful and i find myself at peace while looking at it. As I approach the courtyard, it seems I am not the only one whom enjoys the scenery. There are quite a few of others here, all wearing similar uniforms to my Master. Speaking of, I wonder what this place is? The event from before seemed to be a group summoning ritual. Based on the age of the ones wearing the uniform, I think I can make the conjecture that this is a school that teaches magic. Nonsense, such a thing is ridiculous. Magic should be learned in private study with an instructor to guide you. One can listen all day to a person blabber on about how to cast this and how to cast that, but one needs to understand the magic to truly become powerful. Magic is not a toy, it is something that flows through us all and something that we need to cherish for it is a part of us. I may draw much power from the souls of the dead, but the power only flows through me as it does because it allows itself to. I cherish this connection and view it as sacred and it acknowledges this. I learned my magic through extensive study and experience. The best they could learn in a place such as this is parlor tricks, for they do not cherish their ally at all. It is something they see as an item, no doubt.

Whatever, I'm in no place to judge them. I'm a murdering Demon, after all. I wonder though, am I really a Demon now? I don't really feel any different. But the Maiden had her sanity because she could control the souls, so maybe her power is what keeps my mind sane? Bah, I'm thinking too hard. I'm still here and still alive. And after I consumed the Maiden's soul, I no longer have that lingering thirst for souls. As long as I don't have too many of those dreams, I think I can feel at peace despite my sins. Just maybe... In any case, Demon or not I still retain my sanity. I suppose it could just be a matter of perspective. As I thunder through my inner monologue, it seems two of the "students" that were relaxing have approached me. And it seems that I recognize them.

"You're Louise's familiar, right?", the redhead asks. This is the same girl that was mocking my Master when I was summoned. That would mean she was mocking me, wouldn't it? Then I could probably assume that this will not be a visit in order to establish a friendship. Besides, I don't like her kind. You have another button on your shirt, use it damnit! You can't fool me! The other girl though, the tiny one as small as my Master with short blue hair, sans one yawning dragon. I shoot the red head a glance, then defiantly turn my eyes to the tiny one reading a book.

"Hello again", I state with a warm smile. "It is good to see you again, did you sleep well?". The girl looks up to me and nods, then quickly makes her way back to her book. There's no way these two can be friends. It's just too opposite. But I guess they do say that opposites attract, and if they've been friends from a very young age then it wouldn't have mattered. These two might even be at the point that they can understand each other without words. Well, the red head might have to.

"Hey, commoner, I'm talking to you!", the red head states as she rambunctiously flails her arms. "I have a question!", I turn my eyes to her, returning my face to its previous expressionlessness. "How much is she paying you?", I slightly tilt my head at the girl to signify that i have no clue what she's talking about. "It was just a trick, right? Louise the Zero couldn't summon a familiar, so she did one of her usual explosions and paid a commoner to hop in when it was all dusty to pretend she summoned you, right? Come on, you can tell me. I'll even pay you double what she's paying you! It'll be worth it just for the laugh!".

"..."

"..."

I just stare at her. To be honest, I don't know what the hell she's talking about so I might as well just sit here and look intimidating. Despite what I said this morning, I have a painful urge to protect my Master for some reason. Maybe it's the contract? I'm not sure, but I'd prefer not to embarrass her further. I must admit though, I'm starting to find it hard not to laugh. Just staring at someone is hard work! Her face slowly contorted into an irritated expression as I had to fight back my laugh. To be honest though, disregarding her inappropriate dress, this girl is beautiful. She no doubt has many of these young boys wrapped around her finger. I'd go so far as to say she probably has a harder time handling when she is disobeyed than my Master does. However, she seems much more collected than my young Master.

"Come one, Tabitha. This lost its fun rather quickly", the red one speaks to the tiny blue-haired girl, apparently named Tabitha, without moving her eyes from mine. I'm not sure if she actually was bored or my super intimidation techniques were a success. Tabitha nodded to me and the re head grabbed her hand and drug her off. I just watched as their figures diminished. Tabitha never quit reading.

"Whoosh", the sound of a quickly moving body goes by me. "Familiar! Where are you?", my young Master seems to be angry.

"I am right here, Master", I say with a calmness to my voice. "Am I to accompany you to breakfast? Or did you have some other plans?", I say pushing the obvious implication that she is angry. If this contract gives her authority over my life, then I may be just asking for my death. I can't let this continue, at any rate. She is not a bad girl, this I know. So I will not kill her just yet, this contract has given me a lot of power. It could be of great assistance in atoning for my sins. Beside, like I said, I simply want what's best for this young girl.

"No breakfast!", she screams to my face, obviously incredibly angry. "No breakfast for a month! No dinner either! Just eat the grass like a dog! And don't say a word! If you back-talk me I'll add 20 lashes with my whip onto your punishment!". I felt my eyebrow twitch. It seems my Master will not understand quickly with such indirect methods. At least not while she is so angry. I feel as though it would be best to comply for the time being and accept her orders. Besides, I doubt she's even serious about whipping me. She's probably just angry that her authority has been questioned by her "familiar". I'm still not entirely sure what exactly she was trying to summon, but I'm what she got. And I am no mere familiar.

"It shall be as you command, my Master", I say with the usual bow and air of honor. "I shall be waiting here should you require my presence. Please, do not hesitate to call upon me should you desire my protection. It would be bad for me if any harm came to you", I speak honestly.

"Eh... yeah...", that last comment seems to have struck a nerve. "I will call for you if I need you, familiar. I am going to the dining hall now, please do not follow me". It almost sounds as if she wants me to follow her. Man, I just do not get this girl. I simply nod in response and then watch her figure fade into the building.

*scene*

"Gryuuuuuuuuuuuuu", my stomach makes its battle-cry. Okay, I'm hungry. Maybe I shouldn't have argued so much, I don't know how long my resolve can last at this rate! I need my nutrition to maintain my beauty! I can't lose to that red head.

"Good morning", a sweet voice startles the hell out of me while I was mustering my resolve, outstretched clenched fist and all. "May I ask what it is you're doing?", the voice speaks once again.

"Oh, Siesta. Good morning to you too. I apologize for not noticing you, my Master denied my breakfast as punishment and it seems to be taking its toll on my mind", I state to the kind young maid.

"What? That's awful!", the maid exclaims as she grabs my fist that I still had held out and looks up to me. "This just won't do! I cannot allow such a wonderful guest starve to death! Come with me!", she says as she takes the hand she grabbed and begins to haul me off somewhere.

"Oh... no... you're not going to have me killed are you?", I jokingly say. "My Master is mad at me, but I don't believe she wants me dead!". The maid stops and lets go of my hand and turns to face me with eyes like she just saw the Old One herself.

"N-n-no! That's not it! Please don't say such things! I would never!", the young girl excitedly exclaims. "I was going to offer you food! Please don't say such things...", she says as she hangs her head. Wow. I feel horrible. This is why I prefer to just sit there and look intimidating. Back to expressionless mode.

"Please calm down, I understand that my humor is not the greatest but I was only joking", I try to say as soothingly as possible. "I know you would never do such a thing, Siesta. Even if my Master did order it". I reach out to her shoulder as I speak, hoping to augment the effectiveness of my explanation.

"I know. I was just joking too!", she says as she hops away while spinning causing her skirt to flutter and flashing a devilish smile. It seems I have yet to face my greatest foe in this place. Hold on.

"Wait, does that mean you are going to kill me?", I say with a mild cautiousness and slightly joking tone. She shrugs. "Who knows?", she says as she continues to sport that frightening smile and commences to grab my hand once again. If there is a benevolent God in this land, I am sorry. Please keep me safe! Several minutes later, I was greeted with a healthy bowl of delicious looking stew. Disregarding the possibility of it being poisoned, I made very quick work of it. This is truly the work of a master of his art. I seldom at food this good at my own home. Then again, I haven't eaten for well over 40 hours and have had quite an exhausting experience. That could very well have implications here. The chef is a burly man, with a very forth-coming attitude. He seemed very spiteful of the nobility here given the way he scorned at the way I had been treated by my Master. Though that may be the case, he was very kind to me. He showed me great respect and seemed to like the way that I stood up to them.

In any case, I finished my meal, thanked them, and made my way back to the courtyard. I didn't want to anger my Master any farther by not being there should she come for me. I need to be very careful about how I handle her, I need to slowly make my way past her arrogant shell to expose the girl inside that tiny monster. I think I'll just take a walk around the courtyard and get a look at the familiars.

*scene*

"What the hell are you?", I ask rudely to the flying eyeball. "In all my time and all the strange creatures I've seen, you are by far the strangest. Wah!", I jumped as the thing blinked. Trust me, when you get an eyelid bigger than your head coming down, you could easily mistake it for an attack. "Seriously, you...", I puff in anger at the eyeball. I think he did that on purpose. Whatever, I think I will just relax here and enjoy the scenery until my Master comes. Maybe I can make up for some of the sleep my mind denied me last night.

*scene*

"Familiar. Familiar!", I hear a voice ring. "Wake up you worthless familiar! People are staring!". Oh, my Master seems to be addressing me. I suppose I should respond.

"Good morning, Master", I greet my Master with a stretch. "Oh, what am I going to do with you? Listen, I'm sorry for getting angry before but you are my familiar. All I want is for you to know your place". That last bit was still rather rude, but I'll let it slide for now. She seems to genuinely believe me to be no more than a simple floating eyeball as it stands. Perhaps if she gets to know me a little bit better then this will be easier. I guess it'll require time.

"I understand, Master", I say it rather emotionlessly. "Do you require something of me? Shall I accompany you now?". To be honest, I'm in a rather bitter mood at the moment. Not particularly because of her, but because I had my belly full and was catching up on some well deserved rest.

"There are no classes today", she says in her usual tone and begins to walk. I follow. Classes? So it's like I assumed, a school of some sort. Probably magic. "Today, instead, is supposed to be devoted to one becoming closer with their familiar".

"Very well. This is good, it gives us the chance to talk", I state to my Master. "There are many things that I do not understand, and many things that you do not understand", I say it as clearly as I can. I suppose now is as good a time as any.

"What did you say? I thought I told you to learn your place, familiar!", she seems to be getting angry once again. This will not do. My Master needs to be made aware of exactly what the implications involved in summoning a human to her service are. I have had enough, this ends here.

"I am no familiar, girl", I state to her with a fire in my eyes that I have yet to show. There is no trace of my respectfulness, kindness or honor in those words. I am now speaking down to her in every respect. And it seems to have worked as she made a face as if she had just seen a ghost. "I am a knight. I am the daughter of the Duke of Roland. I have faced Demons, Kings and Gods", I state with a good amount of emotion, I am likely releasing a slight amount of mana in my eyes. "I have faced denizens of evil. Just who the hell do you think I am, girl? I will not accept your arrogance any longer. My name is Abigail, daughter of Roland. You would do well to use it, lest I end this contract and seek a new Master". And with that, I think she understands.

"Eh... What? But I summoned you, that makes you my familiar!", she says with a small amount of desperation and a large amount of confusion. By all that is holy and all that is evil, is she serious? I can't tell if what I just said completely missed her or she's incredibly brave! "I won't be talked back to, either! I warned you before, but you earned it! Tonight you shall receive 20 lashes! I hope you're prepared". I do not know how long my sanity will hold at this rate. Seriously, I'm going to lose it.

"What do we have here?", a slightly familiar voice speaks out. It is the red head from before. She looks surprised though, as she is only met by what is probably horrible looks from my Master and I.

"Oh ho ho ho", the girl lets out a disgusting laugh. "What a wonderfully obedient familiar you have here, Zero. You must be so proud!", her mocking knows no bounds, it seems. "The commoner demanding more money, I don't blame her for having to put up with you! At least she doesn't pretend to be a magician! Not like sooooome "nobles" around here", she says with her hand covering her mouth to hide her smile and quiet giggle.

"Huh?", the anger in my Masters voice now completely gone and it is only filled with curiosity. What power this red head must hold to snap her back from anger so quickly. "What are you talking about? Money?".

"Master, if I may", I interject. "This young lady seems to be under the assumption that you paid me to make a spectacle before your peers and pretend to be summoned by you", I state the situation without emotion.

"What? Kirche, that's absurd and you know it! Even I wouldn't go to such lengths!", my Master exclaims. "That would just give you even more reason to make fun of me then if I just failed the ritual!".

"Master", I interject once again, calling out to my Master. "Huh? What is it, Abigail?". Wow, she actually used my name. Did out argument never happen? "What is that?", pointing to the flaming lizard behind the red haired girl (apparently named Kirche), I ask my Master a simple question.

"Oh, this is Flame", Kirche says. "He's my familiar. And as a testament to my skill and his quality, he is completely obedient! Oh ho ho ho!", she says while letting out that annoying laugh again. I'm half tempted to Soul Suck her here and now.

"Master", I say while suppressing my rage. "Do I have permission to kill her?".

"W-w-w-w-whaaaat! You're joking, right?", she asks me a question to which I only answer with my silence.

"Oh ho ho ho. It seems your disobedient familiar is scared stiff! She can't even talk! I do suppose it's time for us to go, though. Come Tabitha", she says mockingly as the two leave. She laughs all along the way.

"What a frustrating girl", I naturally say.

"Yeah... what were we talking about though?", she asked as if I would actually remind her. "Oh, I remember. That's right. You are my familiar. I summoned you and you're mine. You will obey me!", the statement lacked her previous energy.

"Master", I state firmly looking her directly in her eyes. "I am no familiar and I have no obligation to obey you", I state as clearly as I can. I reinforce my point by turning my back to her as I walk away. Perhaps I should never come back?

*scene*

Wandering the courtyard, though pretty, is rather boring. My Master may be a bit over-the-top but at least she is entertaining. I'm not really sure what to do with my time. I guess I could try to catch up on my sleep again. Lying on my back watching clouds go by is something I have not done for a very long time. The nostalgia is almost enough to break my heart. Or it would be, if my heart were not already broken. Lying here in the quiet, terrible thoughts begin to consume me. Thoughts I do not want racing around in my head. Thoughts of guilt, failure, betrayal. I still can't believe what I had done with my own hands. The thing that troubles me most of all is not what I did, but why I did it. Because I wanted to. I wanted to kill her. I wanted to see her blood. The thought was more alluring than sexual arousal. It was pure ecstasy. I wanted my blade to taste the blood of the Maiden. I wanted to taste her soul. This is the most painful thing of all. I wanted to keep telling myself that something had simply taken control of me, but that's not what happened. The simple fact is that I gave into what I wanted. My undeniable lust for power.

"Abigail?", I hear a familiar voice. "Hehe, what are you doing there? Someone will step on you!". It seems that in my contemplation I had been rolling around. The thought of me rolling around on the ground with a grimace is rather humorous, to be honest. I can see why she giggled.

"My apologies. It seems I was not paying attention", I respond kindly to her greeting. "What brings you out here, Siesta?".

"I am delivering this cake, would you like to join me?", she asks me with a smile.

"I don't see why not, lead the way", I respond. As we approach the table, a sinister thought reaches my mind. I'm going to let off some steam! "Siesta", I call to her. "Please, will you allow me to deliver the cake?", I humbly ask.

"Well, I don't mind, but why?", she asks a reasonable question.

"This boy happens to be a friend of mine, I'd like to surprise him if I can", I speak a most dastardly lie!

"Uh, okay. If you insist, go ahead!", she says with a smile. Oh, Siesta. Let no man abuse your kind heart lest he feel my wrath. It's time to earn my vengeance! Even if this guy hasn't exactly done anything wrong but who cares! My tired heart needs entertainment. This should be good.

"Here you go, darling", I whisper into his ear seductively as I set down the cake while leaning against his back. "I do hope it is to your liking, Master. My only desire is to please you", I try to speak in the most succulent tone as possible. I want this to go well, my heart oh so aches for entertainment! "Darling, why don't you come sit with me. I want you for myself, these other girls aren't as important to you as I am, right?", bait and lure, attached.

"Guiche", the sweet young girl sitting across from him addresses him in a firm tone. "Who is this woman and what does she mean be 'girls'?", she asks with clear anger in her voice. None of which is directed towards me, I might add. It seems like my suspicions may be correct, if so, this should be good! Oh, by the way, the bait worked!

"W-w-w-what? She's no one to me! I don't even know her name!", Guiche says with fear in his voice. It seems I need to continue playing this disgusting role to get my entertainment!

"Guiche! How could you?", I say in a voice that sounds about to cry. "Even after... after everything you did... You're saying something like that? You said you loved me, Guiche, and that I was the only one that mattered!", I'm milking this for all it's worth.

"Monmon, she lies! I barely know this girl! I only met her in passing last night!", Guiche desperately tries to explain.

"Yes... that's true. You were with Katie last night, right?", I have to pull out the heavy stuff, now. "She seemed to really be into you... but I didn't think you thought so little of me. Thinking back, you really seemed into her as well".

"Guiche", the girl calls out, beginning to turn red with her fists clamped tight. Just a little more, and look. How lucky, it seems I'll have additional support as well! How fun! "You aren't lying to me, are you Guiche?", she seems desperate to believe this boy. Poor girl.

"Monmon, I can-"

"Cannot tell lies to your eyes? Is that what you're going to say! I can't believe you, Guiche! Do you say the same lies to us all?", I interject with the set up for the final blow. "Let's find out, here's the girl from last night, Katie!", I point to the girl whom I had seen coming this way with what seemed like the same package she had last night. It seems I was right to assume it was for Guiche as when I called her name she looked this way and happily started jogging to us.

"What! Oh dear", the blonde-haired boy says with a defeated tone. I believe this is enough for my involvement, I wonder if this cake is good? I think I'll enjoy it with some tea as I watch how this unfolds. Several seconds later, the two girls marched away in anger and the crowd which had gathered was roaring with laughter. Mission complete. I am amused. I do feel bad for the kid, but to be honest he did have it coming. You can only sweet talk so many girls before it backfires on you.

"YOU!", Guiche screams covered in tea that had been split on his head along with the two red marks on either side of his face. "How dare you cause me such humiliation! I demand satisfaction! While it is not in good taste to fight a lady, I demand a duel!".

"Ahahahahahahaha", I cannot help but resist laughter as I grip my stomach with one hand and point with the other. This scene is just too much. A crowd standing around laughing at a 16 year old boy covered in tea challenging me to a duel. Oh man, this is just too great. "Hahahaha. Very well, Guiche. I accept". It couldn't hurt to stretch this out as long as possible, besides it might give me some insight as to what unique magics are at play here in this world. "Where shall we do this, then?"

"In front of the vestry, do not leave me waiting", he states holding back his anger.

"I would never leave you waiting, darling", I mock him one final time before he stomps off. Oh Biorr, how proud would you be? Your little Abigail has learned well. Still trying to drive off my laughter, something pulls me off balance.

"Master? What's the matter?", I call to the small girl grasping my arm. "Where are you taking me?".

"Guiche", she says. "If we hurry and beg him then he will probably be satisfied". I pull away. "Abigail?", she calls my name, slightly stunned.

"Is that an order, Master?", I honestly ask.

"Yes", she instantly replies.

"Then this would be a good chance to take down many birds with one stone. One, I refuse and you can do nothing to make me obey. That is how that is. Two, I can demonstrate just what exactly you've gotten yourself into. And three, that skirt-chasing fool needs a good knock on the head!", I state the facts as they were. "But above all else, I'm bored. And quite frankly, all of you nobles need a bit of a wake-up call".

"Listen, Abigail", my Master speaks, attempting to persuade me. "I know you have that sword and shield and you're probably not bad with them, but that won't matter! Guiche is a magician! He'll just hurt you!", she desperately pleads. I wonder if she's genuinely worried for my safety or still worried about embarrassment?

"You're probably right. I won't use it then!", I state bluntly. She stops. She clearly doesn't know what to say to respond. Either do to my crassness or to what I said, Something prevents her from responding and she just silently walks beside me.

*scene*

"Wow. I must commend you for your bravery, commoner", the pompous young blond boy says with an unbelievable amount of arrogance. Oh Guiche, every soul in my body screams for me to kill you. I'll have to be careful.

"I would do no such thing, darling", I say with a small smile in a horrible mocking tone. "I would never leave you waiting".

"Oh, if only you weren't mocking me. Fairest Abigail", he says with a genuine tone.

"I'm bored, let's begin already. I'm curious to see what the students of this facility are capable of", I say removing my mask and exposing my true intentions. To be honest, this whole thing was beginning to wear a little thin and I was just ready to move on.

"Hmph. Very well. As per tradition, please allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Guiche the Bronze, and earth mage. I shall not be your opponent directly, but my golem, the Bronze Valkyrie shall face you!", he speaks with pride.

"How honorable, I'm shocked to be honest", I speak from my heart. "I am Abigail of Roland. You need not know more", I say with a whim of arrogance. To be honest, I'd like to laugh him into defeat with him still assuming me a 'commoner'.

"As a man, I feel I must warn you that no matter how skilled you are with that beautiful rapier that hangs ad your side, it will not affect the duel. I will still allow you to back out and I will cease the duel at any time should you yield. I would oh so hate to harm you beauty", he says with a disgusting smile. It seems he's already forgiven me for making look like a fool. To be honest, he's probably amazed that I am not backing down. He had probably hoped that I would. Perhaps I misjudged the little parasite, he may not be so bad.

"Oh? Is that so? I'll believe you if you say so", I call out with a commanding voice. I take the rapier in its sheathe and toss it to the side. The wave of gasps almost made me laugh then and there. But I had to keep my straight face. I need to rub this in my Master's face after this is finished!

"What? Are you mad! I refuse to fight an unarmed woman!", he responds with vigor.

"Do you yield then? Please, enough games. Either begin or yield", I challenge him.

"Tsk, very well", he responds in an angry tone.

His golem leaps forward with impressive speed. But his obvious lack of experience and his underestimation of myself has created quite the simple attack to dodge. The golem lifts its weapon high in the air way before it gets to me, honestly I can't help but hold that laugh in again. I simply take one step to the side to dodge that obvious vertical attack. Another wave of gasps. This really is too much. Guiche yells a command and the golem reacts. Lifting its weapon from the ground it quickly turns for a horizontal sweep, as expected. With a simple hop backwards it is easily avoidable. Another gasp. I can't help but smile with that one. I suppose it's time for a counter attack of some kind, lest he get a lucky blow. Inexperienced or not, this thing is made of metal and would easily be able to cripple me.

This is for you, Master. I reach into my pouch for my beloved Talisman of Beasts. This is the catalyst of my power. Strange, the moment I take it into my hand the runes inscribed from the contract begin to glow. I can't believe it, this wave of power is unreal. It's unlike anything I've ever felt! I feel like I could do anything! Let's see what it can do. "Ignite", I speak in an uninterested voice as all the souls in my body congregate. Ignite is the simplest of all my spells. It is nothing more than gathering the energy in my body and forcing as much as I can at one time into my catalyst. The result is an overwhelming, wild and untamed explosion that destroys nearly anything it touches. It is a devastating power reserved for enemies to get too close. I place the Talisman at the side of the golem. Light. A bright flash of light and fire and the golem is gone. Another gasp. I look to my opponent who is stunned. I can't help but curl my lips. I can't lie, the satisfaction at the unease he must be feeling right now is pretty undeniable. I am content.

"Call it off, Guiche", I call out to him. "This doesn't need to go any farther".

"Eh... heh... Ahem. Do you think a simple trick or two will be enough to best me? Guiche the Bronze?", he calls out in an almost desperate tone. I can't believe this guy. No wonder the girls fall for him, he just doesn't know when to quit. Well hopefully he'll show me some other trick, I'd like to learn as much as possible.

"If that is your desire!", I shout as I leap towards him. As I do this, he shouts something and summons several more golems, but it's no use. Whatever that contract was, the power it's given me is far beyond my expectations. I'm able to move with strength and speed far beyond that of a normal human. I think I will end this quickly, I would prefer not to show too many of my own abilities for a simple game.

"Warding!", I cast this familiar spell that has saved me many times. By focusing on my skin, armor and bones and pumping power into it, I can strengthen them by many times increasing the damage my body can resist exponentially. As I approach he frantically casts some sort of alchemy and pulls a sword from the ground. I must admit, I am actually quite impressed with that. The golems are one thing, but this weapon is exquisite. I must compliment him later. After I finish embarrassing him. He pulls his sword up from the ground and over his head, he is about to perform a vertical attack. He seems to favor that, a rookie mistake. A maneuver I've done many times, a combo known by many as a parry followed by a riposte. It is a deadly defensive counterstrike that can quickly decide a match. Lucky for him I'm just using my fist. It is to be noted, however, that the second I placed the Talisman back into my pouch that power I received from the contract faded. Not that it matters in this duel, but I should be aware that I need at least my Talisman to use this power.

He pulls down his sword with a battle-cry like a true man, or boy. Ching. The sound of metal hitting metal, my buckler smacking away his finely crafted sword. Thump. The sound of my fist violently churning his stomach. And finally, poof. The sound of his body hitting the ground and the dirt around him billowing. It may have been too much to use Warding. That's the equivalent of hitting him with a hammer, I guess.

"Do you yield?", I ask the lump of unresponsive flesh. "It seems the victory is mine. Do you feel like a man of honor now, boy? It's a shame I was able to fight back", I express the subtle disgust I've felt from him. I'm not sure what it is, but I felt this horribly dark feeling after he refused to call it off when I offered. All the previous fun I was having completely vanished. Perhaps I was simply angry at myself and not him? "Master, it seems I am done here. I feel rather unsatisfied with the result. Regardless, what are your orders, Master?", I speak honestly. I'm not sure what it was but the second the duel was over I felt slightly depressed. She doesn't seem to know what to say. Good, maybe she's beginning to understand.

*scene*

"Abigail", my Master asks. "Just who are you?".

"I am the one you summoned. I have been summoned many times and aided many warriors in their travels. I am here to fight for you and only for you as you are my link in this world. You've given me light where there was only darkness so I own you everything. My name is Abigail of Roland, daughter of the Duke of Roland and a knight. Knighted women are very rare where I come from, but due to my lineage and power it was almost as if I were entitled to it. I am a Demon Slayer, a powerful mage and a Devourer of of Souls. Normally my mana would be quite limited and difficult to replenish however. But I seem to get a near-infinite supply from my Master, that on top of the augmentation from the contract, my power is even that much greater", I try to tell her everything as it is.

"That's amazing! You hunt demons?", Siesta calls from behind my Master. She seems intent on joining us in this conversation.

"Wait, one thing at a time", my Master says. "So you've been summoned before?".

"Yes", I reply. "Many times, although this time seems to be quite different than the others. Whenever I was summoned before, I had to be in soul form. Right now I clearly have my body. The summoning ritual was done by me using my Blue Eye Stone to create the connection to me, which a warrior somewhere else would answer by using his Blue Eye Stone to complete the connection. Thus binding us together until the task which he called me for was completed. But what what I gather here no such item was used. The only thing I can surmise from this is that something else created the link. And what power indeed, to summon me through the the Void in my complete body to an entirely different world to a girl who has the power to sustain my existence and supply me with supple power all in the process. I am quite amazed". I decide to leave out the tidbit about my Black Eye Stone, for the time being at least.

"You said something about a link?", she adds.

"Yes, to summon anything one needs a link to the being. Be it a familiar like Flame or a higher being such as myself. For example, Flame and Kirche are kindred souls. This is very easy to tell just by looking. They themselves are the link, and Kirche supplies the mana to maintain this link. Every body requires mana to live, and unlike natural creatures, summoned creatures are not of this world. They are an anomaly and thus cannot create their own mana as the world rejects them and would shortly fade away without a supply. For beings like Flame, a powerful mage's mana will be plenty to keep it in this world, but for a human that is a whole different story. In my experience, we've gotten around this by using the Blue Eye Stone. To summon something you need a direct link to it, so we linked our selves to these stones and linked the stones together. Thus, temporarily binding the stones together when the ritual was performed. However, even with this method it was an absolute impossibility to summon a corporeal human. Instead, the one being summoned would be in what we called 'Soul Form'. To explain it as simply as possible, a dead person. A spirit bound to what we called the Nexus. A hub if incredible power and home to these spirits and, with its power, supplied them with a spirit body. The stones channeled power from the Nexus and we used that power to maintain the link established by the stone. It's a very round-about way but it was the only way we could succeed", I do my best to explain.

"I think I understand, but at the same time, that makes no sense since we used no such thing", she earnestly points out.

"Master", I look her in the eyes. "It is in all likelihood that you and I are directly linked and that is how you summoned me. The link itself is not particularly difficult, especially if something naturally binds you. For example; separated lovers or people destined to meet or people who are naturally compatible something like that. What limits it is the sheer amount of power it requires to summon and sustain a living human. Most of the time, forced attempts lead to horribly disfiguring ends. Master, the only explanation is that your own power was sufficient to summon me and sustain me, hence the summoning was successful. And since this contract has been established, mana flows easily between us as if we were one. Surely you've felt that as well".

"But that doesn't make any sense", she claims. "I can't even use magic, that's why they call me Louise the Zero. Every spell I've ever attempted has failed", she looks down as she says something assured.

"Master, forgive me but I can't believe that. I know without a doubt that you are easily the most powerful one in this school, and probably that I've ever even met. Besides, my presence alone disproves everything you just said. No one incapable of magic could pull off as much power as you did without a ridiculous amount of mana", I state pointing out the obvious contradictions in her statement. For some reason, she makes a face that reminds me of the times that I seldom got to see father in response to this. The excited look in a child's eyes at seeing something precious.

"Well, moving on from that. It doesn't really matter right now. More importantly, you said you're a Demon Slayer? What, exactly, entails a Demon?", she asks a painful question with a genuine curiosity.

"For example, Master, me", I bluntly state, deciding that it's best to get this out there now.

"What?", both Siesta and my Master exclaim. Bah, I knew this was going to be painful. I shouldn't expect anything but disgust. I'm used to it. The countless warriors I've fought beside in my life, every single one refused to turn their back on me. Saying things akin to "I called you to aid me, Demon, that doesn't mean we're allies" and "disgusting, a vile creature such as you claiming to fight for us" or "perhaps I shall strike you down too, Demon".

I brace my heart.

"I was born with a natural affinity for souls.I am known as a Devourer of Souls, the most powerful Demon of all in many respects. The magic I wield is known as the Soul Arts. It is done by manipulating the Souls of the dead who could not leave this world or I did not allow to leave. During my travels, I have consumed innumerable souls including that of 17 powerful Demons and several lesser Demons. As such, their power became mine and we became one. This is nature of a Devourer of Souls". -Prepare for it.- "I am the essence of what many would call evil". -I don't need her.- "I have slain thousands, good or evil". -I'll be fine alone-. "I have taken every single soul, every single existence and fed off of its power". -I can't look at their faces.- "Their hearts, their wills still exist within me. I am superior though, as I consumed the Manipulator of Souls as well. A Demon said to be ancient and one of the most powerful. This allowed me to keep my sanity which was slowly fading by consuming these souls. I feel many people would see me evil for this. I only used my power to save my homeland, but the fact remains". I kneel before my Master. "You are the sole purpose in a life that had nothing, Master. I humbly place myself at you judgment and your mercy".

I let out a portion of my heart that I had blocked. Tears were flowing uncontrollably, though my face still showed no emotion. I simply looked at the ground before me while I awaited my judgment from this young strawberry-blonde haired girl.

Silence ensues.

After several moments of uncontrollable tears, I felt a warm finger on my face.

"Demons don't cry", my young Master says with the kindest smile I've ever seen in my life as she wipes the tears from my face. "You're my familiar, Abigail. Nothing else matters anymore, okay? Your past was only preparing you for me. Now that you're here,you can forget all about anything before you fell from the sky. And I can't have you being sad now, not when you showed us all just how cool you were back there with Guiche! Yeah, there's no doubt, Louise the Zero has the coolest familiar around", she says it like it's so simple. I really don't know how to respond, I am literally dumbstruck. Did she really just accept me that easily? After everything I just told her? Does she just not understand?

"Master, I'm not sure you understood exactly what I said... I consume so-", and she cut me off right there.

"From now on you are only defined by your actions from this point forward! You are my familiar. You should be honored. Besides, I'm jealous. You need to teach how to properly blow things up instead of just doing it on accident!", she's serious. "And quit calling me 'Master', my name is Louise!". She says with that usual arrogant look while Siesta simply smiles warmly at us. Hell, it's even harder to stop crying now.

And that was truer than I had though, because I cried until sleep carried my consciousness away.

With a smile I have never known. Have I finally found my place?


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes: And it's round three! As you can see, this chapter gives some real build up to the future events of the story! Things are about to really deviate from the story of the Familiar of Zero, beginning with the next chapter!

Anyway, in regards to this chapter I hope you guys really enjoy some of the banter and the additional information regarding magic that I threw out there. Of course, there will be more bonding and all that stuff and that will certainly continue throughout the story. But up until now, it has been rather peaceful.

Enjoy it while you can! Buwahahahaha

**Chapter 3**

**-What Power Hath Thee, Oh Master Of Demons?-**

_"For what worth haveth a man's heart, whenst he proveth not his resolve?"-Unknown_

There is fire in my veins once again. In all the time I have felt the souls of others within my body, it has never been this bad. I've always heard them screaming, but never so loud. The Maiden's power allows me to better control their power, but it does not silence their wills. When my consciousness wavers for anything, be it sleep, injuries, depression or illness, the souls screams become like daggers in my ears.

"Aaaaabigail", they call to me in a million different voices, each at different volumes. Screaming but not loud. Whispering but not quiet. "Let us play, Abigail. Let us in so we can play!". I can't let them. I have to run. This might just be a dream, but I have to run. If I let them win then my body will no longer be mine, no matter how strong the Maiden's power is. "Abigail, we just want to protect you! We feel the pain in your heart, we can end it. Don't you want it to stop hurting, Abigail? Don't you want all these bad memories to go away? Don't you want to be free of this burden? We love you, Abigail. All we ask is that you love us too. Let us in your heart, Abigail, and all the pain will go away", their insidious smiles are more frightening than the plague babies of the Valley of Defilement.

"I won't let you have anything, just leave me alone!", I desperately cry as I run for the sake of my own sanity. "I'll never give my heart to the Demons, never!". And as I scream this, I open my eyes to the sight of someone who looks exactly like Louise, with a spear in her chest. On the other end of that spear, with disgusting smile is-

"Louise!", I cry out as I wake from my slumber. "Oh, I see", I mutter as I take in my surroundings. It was all a dream. Of course, I knew that, but that doesn't mean it's not real. The threat of these dreams are real indeed. But I wonder what was with that last vision I saw? Surely, it's simply the evil in my heart trying to break my sanity. However, even I do not know the full scope of my abilities, so I should not discredit such a thing as an impossibility. I shouldn't lay my guard down. I will stay close to my young Master, I will not allow that to happen. This the solomn oath of this humble knight.

"Achoo!", I hear a sneeze. My Master seems to have awakened. She has a rather humorous look on her face.

"Good morning, Louise", I say with the kindest smile I can muster. "I've set out your clothes on the foot of your bed. Also, if I may Master, I have a request", I humply ask for permission to speak.

"Geez, Abby. You don't have to ask me for permission to speak", she scolds me. I refuse to break the protocol of a knight, however, and I will not ask until I am told to do so. And so I wait silently, as does she. This is similar to the staring contests I had as a child, and it is very clear that my young Master is fighting very hard not to laugh.

"Fu...fufu-bwahahahahaha", she suddenly breaks out laughing. "I couldn't stand it anymore, bwahahahaha".

"Excuse me, Master", after several seconds of her rolling around laughing, I inquire her with the most expressionless face I can muster. "May I ask why you're laughing?", to which she only laughs harder.

"Your face, bwahahahaha!", she so kindly states. However, much to my dismay, I discover a horrible thing once I place my hand on my cheek. It seems the tears from last night acted as an adhesive, and it seems I have those familiar pink undergarment with a frilly bow attached to my face.

"Bwaaaah", I cry out in embarrassment as I frantically fight to remove the trespasser. "Louise! You shouldn't laugh at me like that!", I desperately cry out in a fluster. "A knight has their honor! Hmph!", I yell as I jokingly look away from her in anger with my arms crossed.

"Teehee, don't be angry Abby! I just couldn't help myself", she says as she wipes the tear she became aquainted with from laughing so hard. "Oh, what is it you wanted to ask me?".

"Ahem", I clear my throat in my attempt to compose myself to answer her question. "Louise, I would request that you allow me to attend your class with you today if that is acceptable. After my battle with Guiche, I became quickly aware that the magic in this land is very unique to me. Considering that I may one day be forced into confrontation to protect my Master, I would like to learn as much as I could about it. Despite my one abilities, if I am taken off guard it could be dangerous. I would like to take precautions to make any dangerous situation less dangerous if at all possible, after all", I say with a small curl in my lip, "know thine enemy".

"Eh...? I suppose they would allow it since you're human. Well, close enough to human", she says with an unsure expression. "But do you really think it's necessary? I mean, do you really think I'm in such danger of being attacked?", she asks a very innocent question.

"Master, at any time or place you could very well be attacked or ambushed. There are many reasons why this is possible, one such reason is you're a noble, meaning your family is very wealth, correct?", she nods as I ask. "Which means you could at the very least be the victim of a kidnapping. They may attempt to ransom you back to your family, or simply rob you".

"Oh... I guess that's a possibility", she maintains the uncertainty in her voice. "But I don't think that will happen. There's really no reason to worry so much, Abigail".

"You are my Master", I reply with conviction. "Worrying about you is my duty. It may very well be out of place concerns, or it may save your life. I would just like to be able to plan strategies for dealing with the many possible scenarios that could take place. This world is unknown to me, I need to change that as quickly as possible to perform my job adequately".

"Ah", she nods. "Very well then, Abigail. Let us go to breakfast", to which I reply with an honorable nod.

*scene*

The breakfast was wonderful. After my 'duel' with Guiche, they seemed to have recognized me as someone worth of noble status. I don't really care about that, but it means they're not going to let me starve. It was very exquisite, and almost felt like a waste since it was entirely too much for one person. I guess that's why there was so much left over. It was a brilliant combination of three sunny-side up eggs, perfectly steamed on top. Some grilled meat, very akin to ham but with a very different subtlety that was delicious and a stack of what I could only call pancakes with an unknown syrup on it. The work of an artist.

Afterwards, we made our way to class. There was plenty of time so she kindly put some effort into telling me of this world. Apparently it is a completely different planet, as I have never even heard of any of the countries she mentioned. For example, this academy is in the kingdom of Tristain. It is incredibly renowned, bringing in students from all over the world. The neighboring nation is deemed Germainia which has a relatively acceptable relationship with Tristain even if the inhabitants of each nation tend to dislike each other. Louise took special care to note that Kirche was from Germania from a rival family to hers and I shouldn't trust her. She also pointed out some land marks and important places, such as the safe tower, housing many famous, some legendary, magical artifacts. The academy was apparently founded by a magician named Brimir whom wielded the legendary lost fifth element known as the "Void". He is apparently extremely highly regarded among the people of this land, almost to what seems a religious status.

"Heh", I laugh to myself. "Umbasa".

"What?", Lousie looks to me with mild curiosity.

"It's nothing, it's something from my home. I just couldn't resist it", I say with a mild snicker. "It's just that sometimes, Gods are not all they're cracked up to be, Master. Nothing more", to which she replies with only a perplexed look and a nod. However, this "Void" peaks my curiosity. I'll have to do some research on my own later.

*scene*

The classroom is very respectable. It looks like any university I have seen in the paintings, though I've never seen one due to the warring state of my homeland. All of the students quietly chat amongst themselves, though more than a few take notice to my presence. I have some difficulty telling if they're uncomfortable with my being here or not, but at the very least they seem interested. That's when a young, rather overweight young man, tugged on the tail of my tunic and asked me a question.

"Are you from a noble family?", he asked with what seemed to be genuine curiosity. However, I feel this is a question that I should avoid. So, I thought I'd make a joke. By telling him exactly who I am since I doubt they'd believe it. "I am no mere noble, boy. I am the second daughter of the Yormedar family of the Kingdom of Roland. I am Royalty. I am also a knight. Are you satisfied?" I speak in an incredibly serious tone with a warm smile attempting to subtely mock the young man. Something about him just annoys me. Then he says something absurd.

"Y-you're a princess?", he yells with more power than I'd expect. "Everyone, Louise the Zero summoned a princess knight!", he makes sure the entire class hears this.

"Ehhhhhhhhhh?", everyone in unison, Louise included. They must have a choir class here.

I guess my joke failed.

"W-wait!", I call out to the class. "I-I was only trying to make a joke!", I frantically attempt to remedy the situation. "I wasn't serious!".

"Then you're not a princess?", the tubby young boy asks with a sad frown.

"Well...", I think hard for the proper response, looking to my Master for assisstance. She's no help. "No... I didn't lie... It's forbidden to do such a thing by my code", I say with a tone of defeat. that's when she appeared.

"Class, silence!", she calls to the class. "Be seated, I can hear you all the way down the hall making such a ruckus! It really is very unbecoming of nobles to be so obnoxious!", she chastises her class.

"B-but teacher!", the tubby one calls out. "Louise's familiar is-", she cuts him off.

"She has permission to be here, enough", she ends the conversation. The calss reluctantly goes back to their seats and gather their utensils. The teacher is a stout woman with purple robes and a pointed hat similar to the one that Yuria wore, except this one serves no purpose other than being decorative I'd wager. Unlike Yuria's and the amazing resistance to disease and plague that her garb offered. She really saved me in the Valley! I give a small bow to Yuria. Anyway, I'd say that the purple robes represent instructors, since every older person that I've run into has been wearing them. It seems she is prepared to begin class.

*scene*

The class thus far has been incredibly interesting for me, despite some of the students fighting off a nap. She has been describing what she calls "Earth Magic". The concept seems sound but the general idea is completely out of this world. I had extensive lessons but had never heard of anything like successful transmutation. So far, she has been instructing the class on how to change one mineral to another. Specifically, transforming a pebble into bronze. Interesting, I thought. I suppose Guiche had done something along those lines during our fight, though I hadn't really focused on the process of his magic, only the effect.

"Mrs. Valliere", the professor calls. "Could you please demonstrate this for us?". Once again, the class was in unison. Except this time with a desperate gasp.

"Professor!", Kirche calls out. "You can't really be asking this, right? You can't expect Louise the Zero to do something like this!", she seems very frantic in her pleading. I wonder what's going on. As I look at my Master, she has an incredibly determined look on her face. I would imagine that Kirche had just said something that really bothered her.

"Silence, Mrs. Zerbst. That is exactly what I am asking and I did not ask your opinion on the matter, the same goes for the rest of you". Wow, this professor has fire in her veins. She looks so kind, too.

"I'll do it", my Master exclaims. "I won't mess it up!". I'd really like to know what's going on here, I am at a total loss. So, I just stay silent and trust in my Master's judgment. If she asked, I would silence every voice in this room however, she seems determined to do so herself.

"Invocabo spiritus terræ", my Master begins to speak. "Rogo. Da mihi virtutem!", she calls as she focuses her will into her catalyst. I can feel a huge amount of magical energy begin to flow. I knew my Master was strong, but this is ridiculous. The power flowing from her, even I cannot put that much power out that quickly. Wait, something's odd, the power is snowballing.

"Oh sh-", I yell as I dive behind the desk.

Booooooooom. A massive explosion. I don't think that's the proper process of converting earth into bronze.

"That's what happens when you ask Louise the Zero to perform magic!", Kirche yells out with an angry look on her face. "She can't do anything but cause explosions! She's a failure! A Zero!". Now I see why my Master dislikes this young lady. Looking towards my Master, fighting back her desire to cry right then and there, I begin to understand. Yes, it's perfectly clear to me what needs to be done.

"Master", I say to her as the class begins to laugh. "I knew you were powerful, however I had no idea it was to this extent". The class grows silent, very interested in what I was going to say. "Yes, my Master is indeed powerful. There can no longer be any doubts". All eyes are now upon me, all in disbelief, save for one set. My Master's. They shine only with a faint glimmer of hope.

*scene*

"Abigail", my Master addresses me as we make our way through the halls after leaving class. "I appreciate what you said back there, but it's a well known fact that I cannot perform magic. Saying such things in front of all of them will only exasberate the situation, give them more ammunition of which to make fun of me", she says all while facing straight ahead as we walk, not once even glancing towards me.

"Louise, while I understand what you're saying, I don't exactly understand the meaning of why you're saying it", I speak what I feel. "If you're implying that what I said was simply for the sake of appearances, please do not misunderstand. It is against the oath of a knight to lie", in which she responds by only stopping and looking at me for a moment, almost as if she were annoyed. "Master, if you would allow it I could demonstrate what I've learned of you in my short time being here when we return to your room".

She sighs. "Do as you will, Abigail. Nothing will change", she says with a pathetic voice. Geez, I had no idea my Master was so self-hating,

Click. The sound of the door latching as it is pulled shut. Louise seems quite used to this as she begins to wash the dirt off from the explosion with masterful skill. It seems the wounds from her peer's jabs at her magical affinity run deep indeed. I will have to correct this. Yes, the looks in their eyes will be better than when I had that fight with Guiche.

"Heh...heh... Muwahahahaha", I make a jokingly evil laugh as my Master changes into clean clothes.

"Wh-what...?", it seems it wasn't as funny as I thought.

"Nothing at all, Master. I was simply reveling in how entertaining it will be to rub the noses of every noble in this land into how much more powerful you are at magic than them", I speak purely from the heart. "Master, is it okay if we begin now?", she nods. "Excellent. I would appreciate it if you could grab four of those tea cups sitting over there. Don't worry, they won't be damaged. I have to go prepare some super magical-assissting tools real quick, please be patient". As I leave the room my Master has quite the humorous look on her face.

*scene*

"Abby", my Master calls to me. "This is the 'super magical-assisting tools'?", she asks as she makes a discontented face and points strongly towards the three pitchers of water and two empty cups I borrowed from Siesta.

"Indeed", I respond as I set up the demonstration. "Water is the most accurate representation of mana without using mana itself. It is perfect as a physical metaphor for me to explain to you where you're going wrong", I answer her with a voice so warm it even surprises myself. "While I'm doing this, could you please set the four tea cups in a row?", she begins to arrange them earnestly. "Thank you, Master".

"So what are you going to do, Abby?", my Master asks with puppy-dog eyes.

"Here, I will show you", I answer as I finish setting up. "Master, as was demonstrated in your class today, there are four elements in which you are instructed to use at this academy. In one of each of these four elements, each person has a natural affinity, although they can normally use them all to some extent", my Master listens with wide, attentive eyes. "These elements are Earth, Fire, Wind and Water. They make up the world as we know it, as such, a powerful magician can alter that which we call reality or physics with their will and mana alone. For now, each tea cup represents a normal human's affinity with each element, and this pitcher will represent their total cache of mana which refills over time. Let's pretend we're Guiche. In order to create a golem to it's absolute greatest potential, he must take his total mana reserve and fill the cup up to it's rim, neither spilling or using too little", I say as I show her a demonstration by fulling the cup. "And with this, Sir Guiche the Bronze has a Valkyrie at his command".

"Yes", my Master acknowledges my instruction. "The art of casting magic is delicate, as every instructor as taught us. It require immense focus and concentration to accurately produce the desired effects. We're aided in this by the use of incantations. If we fail to properly allocate our mana, then the spell will fail", my Master demonstrates her brilliance.

"Yes, Master", I respond. "You are absolutely correct". I begin to replace a tea cup with a slightly larger drinking glass that I brought from. "However, sometimes we have a natural affinity for a specific element, correct?", my Master is watching intently. "Myself for example, I have a very powerful affinity for Fire. My "cup" so-to-speak is large enough that if completely filled, I can only refil it two more times for a total of three of my most powerful abilities. However, with some abiliies I forcefully over-fill my cup as was demonstrated by my fight with Guiche. That technique was different than slowly filling a cup causing it to overload, more like pouring the water quickly causing it to splash out. But in general, my power was very limited due to how quickly my mana ran dry if I used my full power. That is, until you summoned me", I become involved in my own speech, forgetting completely about the purpose of this instruction.

"Ahem", I clear my throat. "But I digress, as I said my Fire cup is larger than my others as so I prefer to use magic from that element", I opt for not telling her that my most powerful abilities consist of manipulating the Souls of the dead directly. "Many weilders of magic have such affinities. Lady Kirche and Lady Tabitha, for exam-", my Master cuts me off.

"I know all this already!", she exclaims. "I've studied all of this, none of it helped!".

"Louise", I call to her. "Please, just listen". She nods respectfully as she calms down. "Generally, the larger the cup of affinity, the smaller the others. Thus, making it easier to over-fill a cup of another element", her eyes get slightly wider. "For example", I place a cup about the size of the pitcher next to the tea cups. "If one had a cup this large, they would be incredibly powerful, but definitely limited to that one element. Meaning, the sheer amount of mana that would accompany such a thing make it virtually impossible to weild one of these four elements, resulting in an explosion every time due to the cup 'over-filling. Do you understand, Master?", I gauge her reaction to see if she understands what I'm getting at.

"Yes... I understand what you're saying, but I don't really know why you're saying it", she says, proving just how unwilling she is to believe that she has power.

"Master, are there only four elements?", I bluntly ask.

"Yeah, there is Fire, Water, Wind and Earth", here eyes grew wide in disbelief. "And Void... You can't be implying that I can use the element of Void, right?", she asks me with hopeful, agonized eyes.

"I am implying simply that you have an affinity so strong, and a mana pool so large, that you are unable to use any element except one. With a nearly limitless supply of mana", I say as I look her in the eyes. "This Fifth Element is as much yours as your heart. It is a part of you, you just refuse to believe it. If one believes they have no arm, they simply will not look at it or use it, so it may as well be true. But if they look at it and believe, then their arm will respond with glee. Master, I am not suggesting that you are a user of the Void, but nor am I discrediting the idea. I would suggest you do research in your spare time on Void magic and human familiars in your spare time, however. If you find anything useful, we will try it out. At the very least, it could offer insight into a rare element", I speak to her with a commanding voice.

"Never underestimate yourself, Master", I look hardily into her eyes. "That makes you your own worst enemy, and I tolerate no enemy to my Master. You should never believe something impossible, even if you fail", I speak from my heart. "Now, I would ask that since we have free time, you would go do some research. I would like some fresh air, if that's okay?', my Master nods. "Very well, I shall be in the courtyard", I say as I wave goodbye to my Master.

"Please come see me if you discover anything".

*scene*

I still can't get over how beautiful the landscape is in this land. I will have to see more of it eventually. For now though, I am contented to sit here and relax in the warm sun while overlooking the mountains. My Master, I do hope she finds a way. I know her power is ridiculous, but I am no instructor nor am I a master Magus. I'll do my best but all that is is to point her in the right direction though. But she's a genius, in all reality. She's studied very hard and once she finds her power she will be-

"Waaah", I quickly roll backwards into the wall as a figure suddenly pops into my vision. "Stay b-back! I'll... Tabitha?", it seems my eccentric young friend wanted my attention for some reason. "I apologize, Tabitha. I was in deep thought and easily startled. Please, how can I help you?", I inquire as to why the tiny-one has approached me.

"Questions", she says expressionlessly. "Was told... ask Abigail... for help", she says still expressionlessly.

"I'll help you, what do you need?", I ask of her.

"Mission from Headmaster", she says something interesting. "Was told prepare for attack soon, put faith in Magi Princess. Plan defense against Square Earth Magus", she says some even more interesting things.

"I see, while I am certainly willing to assisst you as an attack would put my Master in harm's way, why would the Headmaster ask you and especially myself of all people?", I ask a natural question.

"Chevalier", she says with her usual expression. "And you... powerful... with unknown limits... Headmaster wishes to know", she says. "Also... wishes not to be obvious... Princess will be guarded by royal guards... will not be expecting us".

"I see. Yes, I completely under-", I interrupt myself. "Princess?".

She nods.

I see, there must be some important event coming up soon. I'll have to inquire my Master later as to what it is. It may be the best course of action to ask this girl to speak as little as possible. "Will the attacker's target be the Princess herself, or something else while the rest of the academy is distracted?", I ask.

"Vault... powerful artifacts... worth a lot", she states to me.

"I see, a thief", she nods. "Very well, let's hear you information and form a plan", she nods as I affirm her request for assistance.

*scene*

We talked for several hours as she struggled to explain details to me. I was curious, but I felt like it was best to just ask Louise about the Chevalier and Princess later. I felt like it was cruel making Tabitha talk more than she had to. Speaking of, I haven't seen Louise all day. I presume she's doing research. That's good, all that pent up desire to be strong will hopefully for itself into resolve. And it will hopefully allow her a bond with her power that others here seem to lack, having had no such power to date and having been constantly mocked for it. She would never take such a thing for granted. Or she would use it to become an evil warlord. Whatever the case, my Master has given me hope so I shall wield my abilities for her so long as she desires it. I don't like how "entitled" these "nobles" feel here. Magic is not a tool but a gift. They should respect that!

After I finished talking to Tabitha, the sun had begun to set. I decided that it was best to return to my Master's chambers to wait since I didn't want her wandering the courtyard in the dark. So I've been looking out her window admiring the beauty of the twin moons while I wait.

*scene*

Abigail's lecture was preposterous! How could she insinuate that I, of all people, can wield the legendary lost element. The Void! I'm Louise the Zero, there's no way! But still, I can't help but feel hopeful at her words. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to look.

As I searched, I found many interesting things. Particularly on "Brimir", the first Void mage and an otherwise legendary figure. Aside form being a Void mage, what particularly made me double-take was the fact that he too had summoned a human familiar. He was referred to as the "Gandalfr". Maybe my familiar was actually on to something? No way. But still, once again I feel compelled to follow through.

_"Never underestimate yourself, Master", _I remember Abby's look of pure confidence.

_"That makes you your own worst enemy, and I tolerate no enemy to my Master. You should never believe something impossible, even if you fail". _She has never doubted me one bit, has she? In any case, she's right. It couldn't hurt to try at least. The worst-case scenario is that there's just another explosion.

"Wow, it's dark already?", I mumble to myself. "Shoot, I bet Abigail is still waiting for me!", I begin to get excited as I rush to check out the books I found of possible interest or use. "Wait, where did she say she'd be waiting?".

*scene*

In the end, I just decided that the best choice was to take the books back to my room before searching for my familiar. Fortunately, that got two birds with one stone.

"Good evening, Master", my familiar greets me with a warm smile. You know, I hadn't really looked until now but she is absolutely beautiful. In the soft glow of the moonlight coming through the window, she almost resembled a transcendent being. An angel, for lack of a better word. Was she really a Princess? If so then no doubt she was truly beloved by her people. I wonder if she was heir to her throne? Was she to be a Queen before I sudden pulled her from her home? I don't really know, she could have just been making a joke before. Abigail's humor is... different. I suppose the attempts themselves are humorous at the very least. I guess you could say it's a cute little quirk of hers in her otherwise serious demeanor. It still makes it difficult to determine if she's being serious or not, though. "Did your research go well?".

"Good evening, Abigail", I respond with respect. "Perhaps, I was able to find some relevant information, such as a previous human familiar and some minor details about the only recorded Void mage. But there's still a lot of information to sift through. It seems though, that I didn't give you enough credit. You might've been right after all", I say as my face turns red and I look to the side.

"Haha, indeed, Louise", she says with a smile that rivals my kind older sister. "You're too hard on yourself. You only need to believe. Resolve is the strongest magic of all, rivaling love itself", she says something embarrassing. "It can also be your greatest weakness, if you're resolved to believe you are weak".

"Yeah", I mutter. "I understand, already!", she's getting embarrassing. "I'll try my hardest from now on, okay?", I can't let them call me Zero anymore! I'll have faith in Abigail!

"I have a question, Master", I nod to her as she looks for approval to speak. "What is the Princess of this land like?", she asks an odd question. Oh wait, she must have heard about her coming soon. If she really is a Princess herself, I can understand her curiosity.

"She's kind, fair, beautiful and sweet", I reply honestly. "She is a Princess that all the lands are envious of and the people of Tristain cherish her, as do I".

"Oh? You speak as if you know her well", she shows good observation.

"Indeed, she and I are childhood friends. Valliere are a prominent family in Tristain, and the Princess and I are the same age. As such, I was honored to be the one chosen to play with her. She is, for lack of any other way to look at it, my best friend. That can probably be attested to the fact that I wasn't allowed any other interaction, but that wasn't a bad thing", I speak with a small tear in my eye.

"I'm glad", she says as she walks to me and wipes the tear. "Then I'm not the only one whom sees the value in my Master", her smile is like home to me now. "I would like to meet her, I feel it is something my heart desires", she makes a humble request.

"Well", I respond, still choked up by my tears. "It would be odd for my familiar not to be by my side, and she is coming soon. She will likely visit me then", I imply that Abigail will be allowed to meet her then.

"I see, thank you, Master", she says while backing away. "Also, may I ask what a Chevalier is?", she asks a seemingly arbitrary question.

"Chevalier? It's an honor bestowed upon those who perform great feats at great risk for the greater good. It is one of the greatest honors to be bestowed upon anyone in this land", I answer her. "I can understand asking about Henr-the Princess, since she's coming soon. But why about Chevalier?". She grows silent and serious as I ask this.

"It is no matter, Master. I simply heard it in passing", she lies with a straight face. As if she could fool me. We're connected on the level of the heart by the contract. But in any case, I'll trust her judgement. I have no reason to inquire her about it for now. For the time being I should focus on my stu-

"Yaaaawwwwnnnn", I can't help but let out a powerful yawn. "Oh, it seems I wore myself out more than I thought by researching so hard", I think out-loud.

"Please Master, rest your body and mind for the night", my familiar speaks with a hint of a giggle. "You've done well for today".

_"I am proud"._

I can't help but look away when she says something like that. I wonder if she realizes just how much such words would mean to me? Does she realize that I've never heard them before? "Anyway, I think that's a good idea", I agree with her idea. I have plenty of time to study up. "Um, Abigail?", I shyly call for her attention.

"Yes?", to which she responds.

"Are you really a Princess?", I couldn't help but ask. But she only stares at me for a moment, clearly thinking about the best way to respond.

"I am your contracted familiar, Master", she answers in a pathetic attempt to avoid the question.

"I see, I won't force you to answer. I was just curious. I would like to hear about it when you feel comfortable telling me about it, however", she looks away shyly as I say that. Perhaps she feels kind of like she's betraying me by not telling me? She seems like she'd be the type to think that way. What with her 'knightly honor'. "Anyway, I would feel bad for making you sleep on the floor again. This bed is large, so I wouldn't mind if you wished to share it", I can't help but speak my feelings. After seeing her in the moonlight like that, it feels somehow blasphemous to make her sleep on a pile of straw on a stone floor. After a few moments of awkward silence, she responds.

"Master, I... That is very kind of you, Louise", she says as she turns red. "I haven't slept in a bed for a long time".

"Well, like I said there is plenty of room. Feel free to make use of it".

As the night moves on many thoughts race through my head. "Will I be powerful?", and "Is my familiar's faith well placed?", and "there's no way I'll let her down!". But above all else, the thought that races through my head is this:

Never has my heart been so at ease since my kind, beautiful sister Cattleya allowed me to sleep with her when I had a bad dream as a child.

_Nay, this feeling is even warmer._


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Notes: Wow, it's been awhile. First off, I'd like to apologize to anyone who enjoyed the story, a lot of things happened. Things like broken bones and dead computers. I actually lost all the pre-writing I had done, which was a huge buzz kill on the momentum I had before (in addition to not having a computer to type). That said, I'm back and I hope to have at least a semi-regular release until the story concludes.

As you can probably see, this chapter ended up being LOOOOOOOOOONG. I had actually intended to continue it farther, but when I saw that it was close to 7,500 words, I felt like this was a good place to end it or it would have ended up going until 15,000 or something. Once again, I proofread it but I may have left a "your" as "you" here and there. After writing this much, I can see why published authors have an editor! That stuff is so easy to miss when you're just typing away, and it's like you get a road block in your brain while proofreading since you know what it SHOULD say, you can easily just skip over what it DOES say. If you notice anything too terrible, please don't hesitate to let me know.

In any case, it's long, but please do enjoy!

_**Chapter 4**_

_**-The Demon Dances In Her Light-  
**_

"_**What aspect of the soul reflects the brilliance of its light? It is their life."**__ – Forgotten Scholar_

I have to run, this is different. I have grown accustomed to the souls of the dead and demons crying out to me in my sleep, but this is just so different. Those are simply the lingering thoughts of the souls within me echoing in my mind. It is certainly frightening, but it is indeed a product of my own mind, of their consciousnesses remains swimming throughout my mind. Their "final will", as it were. This is not. This is… terrifying. It is like everything here is the absence of anything. The air is comprised of a thick, suffocating miasma. It feels like trying to breathe underwater. The ground is barren, black. There are dead and decaying trees scattered about the landscape. Though there is this much, be it good or bad, still feels as 'nothing'. There is no life here, not even myself.

"_Welcome_", a powerful yet sickly voice calls out to me, seemingly from all directions. "_I do not get many visitors to my humble abode. I pray you find it… inviting"._

"Show yourself!", I cry out almost in a fit of desperation. "I did not come here of my own choice, so I can only assume this is your doing. So, show yourself!". I'm growing frantic.

"_Heh, heh, heh",_ a slow, throaty, ominous laugh. "_Have no fear, Princess. We have met many times before and you know my name quite well. But today, I will teach you… what it means"._

"What!", I cry out. "This is not funny! Quit speaking in riddles, fool!".

"_Riddles! Riddles, she says!"_, the voice calls out in a mocking tone. "_Sometimes riddles are the only thing you can count on. And sometimes truths aren't as simple as they seem. Very well, shall I tell you a story? I know many, but you may find this one particularly… satisfying."_

I respond only with my silence.

"_Long ago, there were thirteen Gods. Each one's power held in check by the other. This was a very satisfying arrangement. They each had a name, and through that name each God understood the other. However, there was one God whom no other God understood; The Thirteenth God. His power unchecked, the other Gods were weary. They knew neither what gifts he possessed nor his intent. So, the twelve known Gods gathered together and decided to hold a Ball for this Thirteenth God; a scheme to learn of his name and keep his power in check, nothing less. On the day of the said Ball, all the demi-gods and spirits in the land attended. It was a glorious affair, but obviously, for they brought the finest wine, food and women. Time dragged on, and the thirteenth God had yet to show. The other Gods grew anxious; if he didn't show then they couldn't see their fear and greed come to fruition. Then a man appeared. 'You there', a God called to him. 'What art thy name?' . And these were the last words these twelve Gods would ever hear, for the thirteenth God was Death, and they called forth his eyes", _a silence ensues after his story.

"Very nice, is this where you tell me that you're the thirteenth God and you will take my life unless I resolve to become stronger? What nonsense", I respond with a mocking tone. "What garbage".

"_Sometimes riddles are the only thing you can count on. And sometimes truths aren't as simple as they seem", _the monotonous voice says with little vigor. "_And the most frightening death one can face, is any other than their own. I will see that you respect my name, Devourer of Souls"._

*scene*

I wake shortly thereafter to Louise snoring obnoxiously. I should thank her; that was quite the unpleasant dream.

"Louise", I call out to her. "The sun rises, Louise".

"Huh?", the mumbles as she rouses from her slumber. "Oh, Abigail. Good morning", she lazily says as she rubs her eyes and begins to yawn.

"Come on now, you were the one who said we had something important to do today. I have your clothes ready over here. I shall meet you in front of the dining hall", I state to her. "Please don't fall back to sleep, it would make me feel badly", I say with a slight curl in my lip.

"Hey!", Louise exclaims. "Who is the familiar and who is the master here?", she says while humorously flailing her arms. I can't help but let out a small giggle at the scene.

"Ahem", she begins to gather herself. "I've gotten your message; we have much to talk about today. Please be earnest in your attempts to see me, there's a lot going on later!".

"Yes, Master", I bow as I take my leave.

*scene*

The courtyard never ceases to amaze me. Every single time I see it! Whoever did the landscaping here truly was a master at their craft. The hills of rolling pasture, the blue skies, the beautiful architecture. All of it together just creates such a wonderful ensemble.

"Huh?", I mutter out loud. "What is that…?". Something is flying off in the distance; I can't quite make it out from this distance. It looks to be similar in form to a dragon, but much smaller… and almost as if someone were riding it? I strain my eyes to look closer, doing my best to stand on the highest thing I possibly can, but all I can see is a silhouette since it has its back to the sun. "Just a little bit closer…", I mutter as I stretch my body out from the picnic table in an attempt to close the distance.

"Wha… What are you doing?", a familiar shriek calls out to me.

"Wa…. Wah!", my audible yelps mimic my visual fall, right on top of my Master.

*scene*

After a rather humorous spectacle, breakfast and a loud scolding, my Master had regained her composure.

"A very special event is approaching, as you may be aware", my Master states boldly. I nod, showing her my undivided attention. "Princess Henrietta shall be arriving today as an honored guest to view the show".

"Show?", I ask the obvious question. I see, up until now I hadn't been too curious as to the Princess's reasons for coming. She takes another drink of the tea that I poured for her.

"Yes, show", she declares proudly with a smile that says 'this show may as well be in honor of me!'. Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling? "It's a show for all second years and their familiars. It's to show off our familiars and generally have a good time. So, I hope you're prepared!".

For a moment, I simply sit there and stare at my Master trying to comprehend the implications of her words. I give up. "Prepared… how?", I cautiously ask.

"Ah, but you'll be performing! It's your job to show off to everyone and prove that I'm the best. Hehe", very funny, Louise.

"Hahaha… I almost believed you there, but that last part was just too out there! You should try for more subtly in your jokes, Louise!", I speak with a nervous laugh.

"Joke? I am nobility! Surely such antics would be beneath me!", she says with that same smile she had a moment ago as she begins to take another sip of tea.

"Master!", I call out desperately. "You can't really expect me to do something so embarrassing, can you?".

"It's not embarrassing! It's tradition! It'd only be embarrassing if we failed to perform!", she's beginning to lose her cool it seems. Sigh, I suppose it's best to play along for now. If the princess is involved then it's fine, since I'll be able to keep an eye on her I suppose. It may just be thieves coming, but if they're just after money, a ransomed princess would be worth a fortune, I'd wager.

"…What would you ask of your humble servant, my Master?", I slightly accent 'Master' as to show my disapproval for this.

"Oh come now Abigail, it'll be fun! You know a lot of really cool magic right? Could you use some of it and make it really pretty looking? And you're a noble, right? I assume that means that you're well versed in manners and etiquette, correct?".

"Well… I was raised as a magician, not a politician. I had to learn it, obviously, but it's been quite awhile since I've put any of it to use. Most of my time was spent with books and swords".

"Okay, that's fine. We have some time to go over it all and revisit anything you need to before the show. I also took the liberty of having you a dress made; or rather my family did. They seemed so excited over me having successfully performed magic that they spent enough to buy a small mansion to have you a personally made dress. It's a good thing you sleep like a log, I'd have felt pretty awkward if you woke up while I had your clothes off to measure you", she says once again with that smile!

"Wha-wha-what? Louise? I don't know if you're joking, Louise! I don't know what to be more surprised at, either! You r-r-r-raping me or spending a fortune on a dress and just assuming I'd do it!", I say with nervousness that beats how the Tower Knight made me feel when I first gazed on his ten-story-tall figure.

"Bahaha!", she lets out a belly laugh as she bends over holding her sides. "Of course you'd do it, you're my lovely familiar! And rape? Bahahaha! You're so cute!", she lives just to torture me, I swear. "Hahaha... Oh boy... Anyway, we have all day to prepare. Why don't you head up to the room and see if the dress fits, one of the maids will be there to help you. I'll be here when you're ready to come up with a plan.

*scene*

"This isn't what I figured my day would be like", I mutter to myself as I make my way to my Master's chambers. "But I guess it's just as good. Perhaps this will be an 'enlightening' experience?"

As I approach the door, however, I get a weird feeling; one of those 'once you go beyond this point, there's no turning back' kind of feelings. Then again, it's not like I haven't had THOSE feelings before! And I lived to tell the tale! Well… maybe 'lived' isn't the right word, but at least I didn't stay dead! "Ugh...", I find myself promptly planting my face into my hand after I made myself look stupid… to myself.

Knock, knock.

I give whoever may be attending to my lovely wardrobe a moment to ready everything.

"Ah, Abigail, are you ready?", a familiar, angelic voice calls to me. I open the door.

"Siesta!", apparently the maid put in charge of this whole ordeal is her. "I didn't think they'd send you! That makes this a whole world easier!", I say as I skip gleefully over to her.

"Teehee, that's good to hear. Though I'm not really sure what you mean? This dress is beautiful, and probably worth more than I'll ever make in my life! I'd love to be asked to wear one. As far as I know, you're a princess from where you come, right? I'd imagine you'd be used to this sort of thing, even look forward to it", she greets me with a logical question.

"Sigh, I shouldn't have ever mentioned it. I didn't expect my terrible ability with jokes to come back to bite me…", I sort of avoid her question. I really don't like to talk about this. For one, I don't deserve the title 'princess'. Two, it brings back memories of things I'll never be able to face again. Three, I'm not used to this!

"Oh? So you aren't actually a princess? I'm not sure I understand, Abigail".

I look to her with jaded eyes, enough to take her aback. It's nothing intentional; I didn't mean to scare her… I simply can't help it. With a deep breath, I begin, "I am indeed a princess. In my home of Roland, I am the third child of the Duke of Roland, the first daughter. My title of princess is used loosely at best, it's not like I stand to be heir to a throne. In fact, that's my brother's job. For all I know, he may even be the Duke of Roland now", I turn to walk to the window as I speak.

"I haven't seen my family in a very long time. But when I was there, I was found to be very gifted with the art of magic. I was raised as a knight with my magic as my sword. I was also trained in the art of fencing as well; which is the style of swordplay you may have seen me practicing. It goes without saying though; I was in fact given all the privileges of a princess. Wealth, fame and suitors were many. Actually, I had an arranged marriage, in fact. Well, engagement. I was to marry the first son of the Duke of Ostrein. This was very beneficial to both families; the heir to the Ostrein family joins the Roland family and they get their hands on the first daughter of the wealthiest family in the land. Yes, for the duration of my youth I was simply 'my father's daughter, a princess'. I was always praised for my skill and beauty – both finely tailored by my father – and for my magic, of course. In truth, I was most akin to a doll. That's how I felt, anyway. I was told to sit there and look pretty in front of people as to not tarnish the family name, yet had to be tough and durable in my training", I speak in a very dark tone, I notice.

"Haha, it's not that it was all bad really, I just didn't like feeling so… trapped. Then again, I suppose that's what it means to be a princess; trapped by your lineage. Used as a political tool. I felt like there was more to life than what I was experiencing. During breaks in my training, my instructor – an old, retired warrior of roughly forty-five years experience – would tell me stories of his travels in his youth. Magical stories of dragons, wars, culture and, well, magic. He would often tell me that my magic is among the best he's ever seen and that it's like having a caged viper. Thinking back, he was probably the closest thing I ever had to a father… or a brother", I look to Siesta who is listening and smiling kindly, which makes it hard to tell what she's thinking.

"It was then that I heard of trouble in the neighboring land of Boletaria. It is the least to say, that my interest was piqued. All of the stories that old Yodie had told me raced through my mind. Dragons, wars, culture and magic. All of it was there, a huge adventure just waiting to happen! I could finally put my magic and swordplay to use!", I quickly stop and realize that I am getting off topic. "But I digress, it's enough to say that I left my home with the help of Yodie and ended up here".

"Oh, you don't need to stop on my account; I'll listen to the whole story if you like. I think it's very interesting", her words have a pretty genuine air about them, but I think it's best to move on for now.

"Haha, I appreciate that. There's a lot more to my life with my family and the reason I left, but for now I need to get moving. Maybe some other time, if I wait any longer, my Master won't be pleased.

"I understand, then please, this way", she says as she reveals the foretold dress.

*scene*

"That fit surprisingly well", I say to Siesta. "Don't tell me Louise actually measured me in my sleep…?"

"I was asked by your Master to measure your clothes as they hang out to dry", Siesta says as she walks beside me on the way outside. "But this is my stop; I look forward to your performance, Abigail. I know you'll show them who's boss!", she says with a little bit of a hop. I answer her with a smile and a polite bow as I make my way to the courtyard.

"Wow, all the second years are here practicing. The thief must be planning on using all the noise that comes with this event as a distraction. That seems kind of amateurish to me; I'd expect the vault to be doubly guarded on a day like today", I mutter to myself.

"What vault?", asks fiery voice I've come to recognize.

"Bah!", I jump and scream simultaneously as she startled me. "Kirche? O-oh, it's nothing. I-I… I was just thinking out loud to something my Master told me… that's all!", I stumble over my words as I try my best to cover for myself.

"Hmmmmmmm", she says as she brings her face in close to mine. "Why are you sweating so badly? It's a cool day, is it not?", she pokes me on the forehead as she prods me for the truth.

"Eh? Perhaps it's just me then…?", I say as I try to back away from her. She's going to pop my personal bubble at this rate.

"Hahaha, you're too honest, familiar! I could see a lie like that through a mountain! Don't worry, Tabitha asked me to help you guys out as well, so it looks like we're allies for now!", she says as she puts her arm around me in an overly-friendly fashion and moves in for a whisper. "But you should probably keep this from Louise, knowing her she'll want to help too. This isn't a game, the thief is supposed to be a square mage. I don't know if you know what that means, but I'm sure you can understand if I say that it's something beyond Louise's level of capability", she says with what appears to be genuine concern.

"I will heed your words, Lady Kirche", I say as I back away and give a polite bow. "But you would do well not to underestimate one powerful enough to summon myself", I say as I look up directly to her eyes, doing my darndest to look intimidating. Kirche isn't a bad girl by any means, but she annoys the hell out of me. Her and her chest…

"Eh… I'm not sure what you mean, but it doesn't really matter. You'll be ready, right?", I give her a confident nod. "Farewell then, familiar. I'm really looking forward to seeing a display of your powers tonight, and to your performance in the show. I know you won't disappoint", she flips her hair as she turns to leave. She made the extra effort to accent that 'know'. Darn her! Oh no, the time! I should've been back to Louise forever ago! I should hurry.

*scene*

"Stupid familiar…", Louise says as she paces back and forth. "That dress should fit fine, what in the Void could be taking her so long?". Louis takes a deep breath and attempts to center herself. "I guess I shouldn't complain; it's not like she'll let me down. I guess I'm just bored…", just as she finishes her monologue, she's greeted by a friendly face.

"Greetings, Mrs. Valliere. I trust the day treats you well? How goes the preparations for this evening?", says the ever-so-friendly Mr. Colbert.

"Oh, Mr. Colbert, good morning. We're still preparing…", Louise turns her head shyly as she responds. "But it'll be splendid! We'll win the competition unanimously!", Louise says as she puffs out her chest and pounds it with pride.

"Ah, that's good to hear. You know, you remind me of myself when I was your age. So full of pride and vigor; make sure to hold on to that as you grow older. Don't forget who you are and what you were so proud of", he says with a meaningful look on his face. Louise is rather taken aback by his sincerity that she doesn't quite know how to respond.

"Ah… Mr. Colbert, is something wrong? It's not like you to seem so grim".

After a brief pause where Mr. Colbert looks to be contemplating something important, he speaks, "I only want to wish you well, Mrs. Valliere. I know you've had trouble with magic, but I also know you've worked harder than any other student in this academy and I'd like to see you get the recognition your hard work deserves. All that said; where is your familiar exactly?"

*scene*

"Oh, it's the bald fellow from when I was summoned!", I say as I finally make my way back to my Master. "It's a pleasure to see you again".

"Ah, yes…", the man says as he scratches the back of his neck. "The same to you. Now, I really should be off. Good luck you two!".

"Yeah… bye", Louise says with a half-hearted wave.

"Louise? Are you okay? You look as though you've seen a ghost".

"Ah… no, it's fine. Where have you been, Abigail? Did you decide to sew a new dress!", she says as she's instantly reinvigorated by her anger.

"Haha… sorry, I got caught up in some things. The dress was beautiful though, Louise, and it fit like a charm. What's next on the agenda?".

Looking at me with puffed-out cheeks, she responds, "Oh, you. Since you took an hour longer to do that nonsense we're going to have to skip lunch! Whatever, let's prepare!".

And so practice begins. It starts out in the planning stages; it seems I'll be limited to the width and length of the stage and anything I decide should fit accordingly. That's fine, but I'm still not really sure what to do here. Louise seems to be confident that I can come through for her but I don't really even know where to begin. Her first suggestion is 'grace'. Yes, she suggests that I put any former training to use to show off how 'refined' I am; how noble. Since I still remember what I was required to learn as a child, I can probably manage with some practice, but surely it'll take more than that to impress a bunch of aristocratic mages. That's when she starts inquiring towards my ability to use magic. 'What are the limits of your abilities' and 'what do you have that's the most visually stunning' and 'can you make something visually interesting without blowing us all up'. It seems it's her plan to make me create a beautiful scene. According to her, manipulating the water in the air and flashing light through it – which is actually Soul Light, but we won't tell her that – will be the best bet to impress the crowd.

"Okay… allow me to collect the ideas really quick. First, you would like me to displace grace and beauty as a princess, followed by a small, elegant display of my foreign swordplay, all to come to a close with a display of magic using water to refract the light I produce?", I ask as I try to clarify the game plan.

"Yep, that's it! I've seen you do both those forms of magic at one point or another, doing them both on a large scale won't be hard for you, right?".

"No, I've never really tried but it should certainly be possible. I'm more worried about the whole 'looking beautiful' thing. That's not something I've ever really done!", I exclaim as I humorously flail my arms about as if trying to fly.

"Don't underestimate yourself, Abigail. That makes you your own worst enemy, and I tolerate no enemy to my familiar. You should never believe something is impossible eve-", I interrupt her.

"Okay! I get it!", I yell as she covers her smirk with her hand. That doesn't hide the SOUND of you laughing, you know! "I'll do my best in the hopes that I can live up to your expectations, my Master".

And so began our tiresome day of training and planning.

*scene*

And so seven hours passed; most of which was spent reintroducing etiquette and the like to me, the proper way to walk, to bow with a dress, to greet a crowd, to speak and various other things. The plan was pretty simple overall; walk in stage in my dress, react accordingly to any applause. If there is then I am to stand there smiling and 'delicately' waving to the crowd until they calm down, then introduce myself with a polite bow. After that, I am to introduce my style of swordplay and give a brief overview, then a demonstration. She said this would be good when I showed her some of my style, since it looks similar to a dance. After that, I am to show off my magic. To be honest, I was completely against doing this as to show an enemy my skills and abilities, but Louise made a convincing argument, 'even if enemies are present, it's not the magic you use but how you use it'. I suppose that's fair enough, and there haven't been many problems since I've been here. Maybe I'm just being overcautious.

Anyway, for the magic demonstration I planned it out in the most visually stunning way possible. First of all, the sun will be setting just as I take the stage. In accordance with the orange light produced by the sunset, I'll use various abilities of the Soul. Primarily, Homing Soul Arrow; an ability in which several balls of Soul Light hover beside me, waiting to seek out an enemy. With the amount of mana I'm receiving from Louise, I should be able to create quite a few more than before. First I'll set the scene by creating a massive, swirling Water Veil above my head similar to a tornado. Then, I'll call forth Homing Soul Arrow. These blue balls of light will illuminate the water droplets of the Veil and should create quite a beautiful refraction. Then, to finish it off, I'll wield the Talisman of Beasts and my Silver Catalyst passed through my family, one in each hand, and launch ten Soul Rays and Fireballs. I will have the Rays arc outward then collide with the Fireball at roughly 10 stories to create a huge orange and blue explosion. Those 'fireworks' should be quite astounding. At least, I think so.

"Yes, yes! I like this!", says Louise as if she were a child. "If you can seriously pull off that magic then the entire school will be amazed!".

"Haha…", I give a half-assed laugh. "That or it will completely fail and I'll trip on my dress and blow myself up".

"As if! You're the Familiar of Zero! I might fail all the time, but that's offset by your perfection!", she says with that same little kid attitude. Okay, I know she's just being silly, but now I'm getting nervous!

"A-anyway, it's going to be soon right? We should go get ready", she answers with an anxious nod as we move to the other side of the courtyard where the show will take place.

*scene*

Kirche was pensive, worried. Something wasn't sitting right with her; so much so that she wasn't even thinking of the show coming up. Something about the plan tonight to catch the thief, it's like there is more to it that she doesn't know. Kirche has always been 'fiery' and passionate, as her red hair suggests, but for the first time in her life she feels reserved.

"Something's off…", she whispers to herself out loud. "What could it be… am I just being paranoid?", to which she promptly turns around to the sound of approaching footsteps. "Who is it!".

"Tabitha", the small voice calls as she walks closer.

"Oh, sorry dear, I was rather deep in thought. Is everything alright? Did you need something?"

"Should ask… you… instead", she speaks words of concerns as best she can.

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm simply all giddy about tonight. I feel like we're missing something or another here… I think I'm just being paranoid, dear, don't worry".

"Kirche… What if… told you… secret… about… human familiar?", the small blue-hair asks a question as strange as herself.

"Secret?", Kirche asks, her attention immediately piqued.

"Yes… more than meets the eye… Abigail is… - ", Kirche's eyes open wide and her hand covers her mouth in bewilderment as Tabitha leans in to Kirche's ear and whispers a secret that will one day come to be whispered as a legend, instead of a secret; a secret of a little girl named Louise and the magi princess she summoned, the Familiar of Zero.

*scene*

There was excitement in the air. The foretold event has finally arrived! Everyone's spirits are high, and to top it all off, the Princess was here to lend her charisma to the people. And charisma does she have! When she arrived it was a massively extravagant affair, they even literally rolled out the red carpet! A golden carriage pulled by four white horses surrounded by the royal guard, it was like the stories I heard of the lands of my home before they were divided among the seven Dukes.

Since familiars weren't allowed near her during her arrival, I wasn't really able to get a good look at her or anything though. That was a bit of a bummer, but it's fine. I'm actually kind of excited to perform after all of that now. I can see the princess in the back of the crowd surrounded by her guard, though that's too far to get a good look at her. Seeing all these unfamiliar faces here though, I can understand the importance of the event for both the academy and the students taking part in it.

I am to go up fifth. Who knows how long that will take, considering the vast differences in the various familiars. First up is Mr. Eyeball from before; this should be interesting. He takes the stage with his Master, and the crowd goes quiet in anticipation. They just stand there; it's hard to tell if they're nervous or just building up the suspense. Five minutes pass with nothing; I begin hearing whispers in the crowd. Ten minutes, nothing. Twenty minutes, nothing. And that's when it happens; the creature blinks.

His Master goes wild! 'Yay! You did it! A personal record! Twenty minutes without blinking once!', she said to the crowd. The applause was less than enthusiastic.

*scene*

The next two performances were simply a Master introducing a lesser familiar, probably because it couldn't really do much. The one performing now is Guiche, but I'm suddenly very nervous.

"Master… I'm starting to feel bad about this, there are over a thousand people out there… if I mess up then I'll – ", she cuts me off.

"You're wonderful, Abigail. I know that. Now, all you need to do is let them know it! Just calm down and be yourself. Remember, I'll be out there with you right by your side!", she says as she puts her hands on my shoulders.

"R-right. Getting nervous won't do anything but make me worse. I simply need to just do it!", I say as I make my hands into fists and put them in front of me to gesture my confidence.

"Nervous, Familiar of Zero?", the last voice I wanted to hear right now calls to me.

"Kirche? What do you want?", Louise answers as she stands between the two of us.

"Nothing, I just wanted to compliment the dress and wish you luck. I'm pretty curious to see what you two have planned", she says with a sincerity you generally wouldn't expect from her.

"Next up will be Louise de la Blanc Valliere. Please allow us a moment to set the stage!", an announcer calls.

"Oh, looks like it's time. Tata, loves. Good luck, I'll be watching", she says as she turns her back and walks off waving into the crowd to watch.

"I don't get it… was she trying to help or make me more nervous?", I think out loud to myself.

"Don't worry about it, get ready".

*scene*

A few minutes pass after they finally managed to repair the stage that Guiche destroyed somehow.

"Sorry to keep you waiting folks!", calls the announcer as the curtains begin to raise. "Introducing the third daughter of the Valliere family, a well known family of this country and you likely know of her well, Louise de la Blanc Valliere, and her familiar, Abigail! I hear they have a very special show planned, enjoy!", and just as he finished, as if it was perfectly planned from the start, the curtains finish opening to the orange evening sun shining directly upon the stage.

Currently, only Louise stands upon the stage. I am to wait until she gestures me to enter.

"Good afternoon, my friends. I hope you're enjoying the show so far this evening. All of the familiars are just wonderful, aren't they? That includes mine; but mine is special. You may or may not have heard, but either way, the best way is to see it for yourselves", as she says that, she looks to me and gestures with her hand and I begin to walk out on stage. It's funny; I've never felt the way I did when I walked on that stage before; when I heard the entire crowd gasp at the sight of me.

My pure white dress was fashioned in a way similar to a combination between a wedding dress and a ball gown, with a lace design laden with white roses and embroidery of a rose bush all over the back and the skirt, reflected the orange sunlight magnificently. My long, golden hair prepared in a sort of half-ponytail and crowned with a silver tiara. I've never felt so embarrassed - in more ways than one - in my entire life. Fortunately, the dress is flexible enough to allow for the proper movements for swordplay.

"This is Abigail, and she is my familiar. Abigail, please introduce yourself", she says in a very commanding-yet-kind voice I have yet to hear from her. I guess it's the noble coming out in her.

As per the plan, I grab the sides of my skirt, cross my legs and bow, followed by the words, "Greetings, I am Abigail of Roland. It's a pleasure to meet you all". And as I complete my bow, something incredible happens; the crowd bursts into screaming applause. I don't even know what to say, I don't even remember to smile and wave as Louise told me to – although she doesn't seem to mind – I simply stand there and look… amazed.

After a moment, Louise calms down the crowd and gives me a more detailed introduction… one we didn't discuss in the plan, "When I first summoned her, I wasn't sure what to think. Sure, she was beautiful and gallant, but she didn't even speak the same language! Eventually, we hurdled these barriers and I learned that Abigail is in fact a princess – even if she denies it – as such, she radiates elegance, right?", as she asks, another thunderous applause erupts. I guess she's still stuck on the whole princess thing. I'm not really sure what's going on though, as it stands I'm kind of scared stiff. "Enough with the talking, though, let's continue with the show! Abigail, do your thing!".

Oh yes… my thing! I just need to… wait, what was my thing? I've completely forgotten! I give Louise a desperate look for help to which she slaps her face with her hand. After she was done with that, she proceeds to use the microphone as a sword.

"Ah!", and with that, I remembered. I take to the front of the stage and all eyes are on my figure as I place my hand on the hilt of my sword.

"I was trained in many ways to fight, but by far the most reliable was the style for me was the style of Fencing, a prominent form of swordplay in my home country. Allow me to demonstrate". I draw the sword and leap into the air at the same time and manage to spin 4 times before landing elegantly on my feet. I then proceed to demonstrate the move of a parry and riposte. First, I strike forward with all of my power and move my bladeless-sword to the side as if to guide an invisible weapon, then I spin my whole body moving about three feet to the side and I strike once again with what would be the killing blow. I then demonstrate several moves that involve both jumps, parries, dodges and rolls. An advantage of fencing, after all, is using an opponent's strength against them by guiding their attacks the way they don't want them to go. Then I gentle slide the sword back into the sheathe with my back facing the crowd, and turn to signify the end of my display.

The crowd goes wild once again, it seems they liked it. I look to Louise to see how she feels about it, and she is smiling and clapping; a good sign I would wager!

"Impressive, isn't it! Not only is she a beautiful princess, but she's as skilled as any chevalier! That's not the end of the performance, though! Nope, that would be an insult to my familiar! Swordplay, as skilled as she may be, is only a secondary skill for her! No, her real skills… are simply magical to behold!". When the heck did she come up with this stuff? It's as cheesy as it can be! In any case, it seems the real show begins here.

I step forward and draw forth my two trusted catalysts. The Silver Catalyst handed down to all children of the Duke of Roland in my left hand, and the Talisman of Beasts I obtained from the evil spirit of an old wanderer I met in times past in my right hand. Like I've done a thousand times before, I focus the mana in my body into these two treasures. First, Water Veil. I've never done it on this scale before, but it shouldn't be hard since I don't need to give it the density to block fire. I focus on the moisture in the air around me, bringing it together and giving it form. Once I have the image in my head, I release the mana within the Silver Catalyst, and an eruption of swirling water appears, just as I had envisioned. It dances above my head as if each water droplet were a guardian watching over me. The swirl stands as tall as the Tower Knight.

Now, to summon the Homing Soul Arrow, quite possibly one of my most powerful spells. Before, I was limited to summoning five lights of the soul at any given time. These souls would then seek out any nearby being that threatened my life. They would hover by my side until they found their target. Now, with the mana I am receiving from Louise, I'll try for fifteen. Instead of fellow warriors, today they shall be fellow performers. I call forth the power of the limitless pit of harvested souls in my heart into my hands, and I release it! Fifteen orbs of Soul Light erupt from my body into the Veil, as if they were dancing fairy guardians in the rain. The orange of the sun mixes with the blue light of the Souls in the water. It's actually more beautiful than I had expected. Being somewhat curious, I look into the crowd before continuing and see something I'm not sure what to make of; they're all just standing there staring. I catch a glimpse of Kirche who has her hand over her mouth and her face looks like I just called her a dirty name. I can't tell what's going through their minds, but they're just looking. I then look to Louise to see her reaction, and it's the same. She's just… looking up at the light. I suppose I should just continue, I imagine she'd stop me if I was doing something wrong.

Then I focus on the Talisman in my right hand. I imagine fire, destruction and death. The unrivaled power of fire! I imagine it flowing from the core of my body, through my arm to my hand and then into the Talisman. I imagine the mighty Dragon God and all its wrath before me once again; that same feeling I had then. I must recreate it.

Now, I focus on the Silver Catalyst in my left hand. I think of the souls that are now one with me and all the beautiful light that they shine. I remember the Fool's Idol, the mock queen of the Ivory Tower and the brilliant Soul Light she possessed. I follow this light through my arm and into the Catalyst.

It's ready, the finale. I release the power pent up in each arm and fire both attacks through the water. They intertwine with the water as they go through, and they erupt from the top to collide, releasing a torrent of blue, red and orange. I fire another, and another, and seven more.

The explosions light the entire academy with their radiance. I can see the reflection in each of the audience member's eyes.

I decide to improvise the ending, I build up all the mana present within my body and focus it directly upward, releasing it with no direction causing a huge torrent of fire to leave my hand and engulf the Veil. This spell is called Ignite, used with more power.

After the excitement of performing settles, I gather myself and look to the crowd, still making the same faces as before, and bow. At first, there are only whispers. Then they get louder, some of the members saying things like 'is that where all of Zero's magic went?'. I then look to Louise, awaiting her instruction. My look seems to snap her out of her bewilderment and she takes the microphone to her face to speak again, only to smack herself with it.

After fumbling for a moment, she speaks to the audience, "A-and there it is! A small display of the Familiar of Zero! I hope you enjoyed!", she says with renewed vigor that she seems to have spread to the crowd, as they begin to scream and cheer and even begin to chant 'Zero! Zero! Zero!'. I guess that's good? Louise then runs up to my side and takes me arm-in-arm and whispers into my ear, "you were absolutely brilliant!" as we bow together and exit, stage right.

Louise gives me a huge hug as soon as we're off stage, and all of the crew and fellow performers give their applause. "Maybe we were wrong about you, Zero", calls one of her peers. I feel her tiny arms squeeze me even tighter and her eyes wet my dress. I can't help but hug her back.

On a toy stage laden with the plastic dreams of young magicians, the last thing I remember of that evening is the announcer praising my efforts and doing his best to calm a crowd that refused to cease their chant of 'Zero'. I suppose it's time to find Tabitha and Kirche.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Notes: Hello again! Here's chapter five! I really enjoyed writing this chapter. It's definitely my favorite one so far, and I sincerely hope you enjoy reading it just as much as I did writing it. As you can see, things are starting to get interesting ;)

Please, feel free to review and put it in your favorites!

_**Chapter 5**_

**-I Am The Demon Of Zero!-**

"_**What is the difference between will to live and refusal to die? Perspective or persistence?"**_

It's been two hours now since the huge showcase of the second year student's familiars now. The commotion after the performance was wild; from people who couldn't believe it to people who were enthralled by what they saw. I could never have imagined that magic would have such a profound effect on people attending an event at a magic academy, but I guess Soul Light is quite beautiful. The acts that followed me were wonderful; seemingly invigorated by the energy in the crowd. Every single one would ask Louise and I how they did, I found it to be quite adorable. The most notable – and most aggravating – was probably Guiche. I swear, he was asking sixty questions per minute. And somehow, he managed to turn it into complementing himself by saying things like 'to think that I had fought face to face with a being of such beauty and power, truly I am incredible'. But, I suppose there's a certain charm in that attitude, even if it is disgusting.

I never saw Kirche after the show; I was kind of hoping to watch Louise rub her nose in it. I'm actually a little bit worried since we need to meet up really soon, and I don't actually know where to meet! I kind of assumed she was going to show me. Louise was having a field day talking to all the people who were amazed by the performance. It still seems that no one here regards me as human, but I don't mind. Louise deserves the praise she's getting for it. I can use this chance to slip away, though. Good, she's looking away right now; all I need to do is-

"Abigail!", that familiar voice rings out again. "That was wooooonderful!", Siesta says as she grabs onto my neck.

"Hnng", I grunt as I reach around and grab hold of her and run. "Shhhhhhh, I'm trying to sneak away! … But thank you", I say as I hold my arm around her head and face in an effort to silence her.

"Mmmmm, mmm", Siesta tries to speak.

"Oh, I'm sorry!", I let her go.

"Why are you trying to sneak away? Don't you need to stay with Lady Valliere at the moment?".

"I have some business I have to take care of… and I can't let her know, okay? Wait, speaking of, have you seen Tabitha or Kirche wondering around here?", I ask as I look to see if Louise noticed me kidnapping a maid.

"I saw Lady Kirche and Lady Tabitha moving to the other side of the courtyard not too long ago. I only remember because they looked noticeably serious and it caught my eye", she says as her expression suddenly changes from gleeful to worry. "It really didn't bother me before, but they were making those faces… the same kind you're making now. Is something wrong?".

"Oh… Was I making a weird face? Haha, sorry about that. I was always teased for being too serious. Don't worry about a thing, Siesta, we're just playing a game", I nervously squeeze out in an attempt to calm her. "I really don't want Louise to know though, and I need to go now, so please heed my request", I say as I get ready to beg.

"Hehe, no need for that", she says as she puts her hand on my head. "Just do what you have to do!".

"Alright, I really appreciate this Siesta. I'll do your laundry for you next time!", I say as I run away waving.

Now all I need to do is find those two, the 'other side of the courtyard' should be about where I washed the laundry…

*scene*

After about twenty minutes of running around in shoes not so much meant for running, I eventually found them.

"What took you so long?", Kirche asks without her usual flamboyance, a particularly distasteful attitude. I feel somewhat perturbed that she is scolding me, but she's right, I kept them waiting.

"I'm really sorry, Lady Kirche, but my Master was content to show me off individually to everyone in the crowd", I say it in the way I'd say it to a king, as my silent, cynical protest to her looking down on me.

"Well, it's fine. Nothing's happened yet so it's no big deal. I'm starting to think nothing's going to happen at all. It was supposed to go down during the show, but alas, here we stand with nary a thief in sight", Kirche says as she shrugs her shoulders.

"Don't… let down… guard… Something… approaches", says the tiny, blue-hair. All three of us suddenly drop to our ready positions; preparing for whatever it is may be coming. Our enemy is supposed to be an Earth Class, so I can assume his abilities will be akin to Guiche's. We feel the ground tremble.

"Oh boy, here it comes!", Kirche says as she readies her catalyst. And that's when it happens.

Booooooom.

The earth erupts into fog-like debris created from something large bursting through the ground at incredible speeds. None of us can see what's going on; until I feel a very strong breeze. Tabitha is using her gnarled staff to call forth wind! Blowing the dirt and dust away reveals out enemy! It is… a mole. About the size of a large dog, the near-sighted, gigantic rodent is actually kind of cute… in a mole-ish sort of way.

"Abigailllll!", the blond-haired boy that was riding the mole calls to me as he runs with arms outstretched. "I was looking all over for-", he's cut off by Kirche's foot in his face. "_Youuuuu….."_, he says as he releases his final breath.

"Guiche…", Kirche says as she approaches him with eyes that even make me jump. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?", she yells directly into his face.

"… I was just-", and he's cut off once again by a less familiar voice.

"What are you kids doing back here?", calls the whimsical voice of the Headmaster's secretary.

"Mrs. Longueville? Is everything okay?", Kirche asks, acting as if having completely forgotten about Guiche. "We're just playing around, celebrating our friend's familiar's performance today", she says as she shamelessly points at me.

"Oh, so you're responsible for all that fuss? Yes… I'm glad I found you", says as she looks me up and down and makes a somewhat crooked smile. I'm not sure how to react to that.

"I'm not allowed to speak without my Master's permission, save for this sentence", I say while looking her in the eye. It's an obvious lie, but every soul inside of me is telling me to be prepared; Fouquet might very well be listening to us at the moment. Strangely enough, she makes a disgusted look as I say that.

"What are you talking about, my dear", Guiche says as he walks towards me. "I see you speak freely oft-", he's silenced by Kirche's elbow to his gut. It seems she has good instincts as well.

"If her Master wishes her not to speak, then respect that", she says while looking around and making her way to me. Perhaps she noticed my unease at the situation as well.

"I do believe you children should head back to the others now, however", Longueville says while crossing her arms. "It's dangerous to be out here by yourselves and I'll be held responsible if something happens to you".

"But my dear friend - adorable though she may be - Tabitha, is a chevalier! She is most certainly qualified to take care of us… besides, I believe Abigail here is older than you!", she says as she blatantly points her finger at me. I have to hesitate to reach out and break it! "So while we appreciate the concern, we would like to get back to what we were doing. Tata, Mrs. Longueville", she says as she waves. Wow, Kirche is as fierce with words as I am with a catalyst. No doubt she'll be a politician or something of the kind someday.

"Lady Kirche!", Longueville says as she raises her finger in stereotypical instructor fashion. "Listen here-", she's cut off by a rumble.

"Tabitha! Abigail!", Kirche calls to us to prepare for battle. We form a triangle formation by putting our backs together as to cover every angle.

"What's going on?", Guiche asks as he clumsily looks around.

Boooooom.

A huge shockwave; several more times dust than before appears. None of us can see a thing, but we refuse to let down our formation. We hear a scream, "Ahhhhhhhh! N-no! Please!". That's Longueville! I run through the dust in an effort to see what's going on against the warning of my allies, and I'm met with an astounding site; a golem almost the size of the Dragon God itself stands before me! In its hand is Longueville! This is unreal! Is this what the magic in this land is truly capable of?

"Fouquet!", I scream to the figure standing on the Golem's shoulder. "Let her go now!".

"Hahaha! You fools just don't understand what you're up against, do you?", the figure lets out in a beautiful, melodic, androgynous tone. "Get out of my way or I'll crush the woman!". What should I do?

"Abigail!", I hear Kirche call to me, followed by Tabitha with a gust of wind clearing the dust. "Calm down, if you act too rashly it may only get her killed.

"We can't just let him have what he wants, though!", I say with pleading eyes to Kirche. "He'll probably just kill her anyway if we let him drag her off!".

"I'm not waiting any longer!", the Golem moves, filling it's gigantic hand with boulders five times my size, it throws them at us. I prepare to run, but I'm stopped by something rather surprising instead. Kirche and Tabitha both step toward the boulder with their catalysts pointed forward as they call forth their magic. Together, a torrent of fire and wind shoot forth into the boulder, smashing it to pieces sending shards flying everywhere but here. Amazing! These two little girls are capable of producing so much power! I'm still not confident in this plan, though. With a hostage, we're too limited in our options. Do we stand a chance?

*scene*

I've been talking to people for hours now, reveling in the praise and attention I've been denied all these years. Abigail's performance was out of this world! I had seen her perform a little bit of magic, but I had no idea she was capable of magic on that scale. The entire audience was captivated; I can't wait to talk to Henrietta about all of this! It's strange though, a bit ago, Abigail just disappeared. She never told me she was going anywhere which is odd considering how formal she usually is. I don't really mind… but I kind of wanted to share this with her. Suddenly, though, I'm reminded of what Mr. Colbert said to me earlier, 'Louise, don't let her out of your sight. I know you trust her, but she's not all that she seems… I don't believe she even really knows what she is. She doesn't argue her humanity when treated as a familiar because she stopped being human a long time ago, I'd wager. Particularly tonight, please, just keep an eye on her… I have a feeling that she'll need it'. It's strange… I sort of scoffed at him when he said that before, but thinking on it now, I'm starting to worry… I should go look for her, regardless. I feel bad getting all the attention for myself.

"Hehe, I appreciate the attention guys, but I need to-", I'm interrupted by a loud crash. "What was that?", I call out as I jump from the crowd. I can see it, towering over the academy, a gigantic golem. My eyes widen as I suddenly think of Abigail! "That stupid familiar must have gone there without telling me to protect me! I should have paid more attention to Colbert!", I yell as I begin running in the direction of the blast. But that's when I stop, "but… what can I do? I'm just a Zero…", I say as I look down to my hands. "Even if she's that powerful, how can I help by being there? Wouldn't I just be in the way?", I feel my legs begin to shake. "But I can't just sit by and do nothing!", I shout as I sprint towards the fight.

*scene*

Mr. Colbert was just completing his research for the night. "Gandalfr…", he says to himself. "Just what are you?". Colbert is a man of both experience and wisdom; both in life and battle. These days he lives much quieter than he used to, but he knows the smell of death, and that's why he's cautious of Abigail. "That girl, she seems so sweet; but she's so powerful and she's seen so much. There has to be a side to her that we have yet to see; something twisted and gnawed. Somehow, that girl has been broken by something. I've seen the signs in her that I've seen all too many times before", he says as he taps on his book contemplatively. "But her and Mrs. Valliere seem quite close, so the girl's nature itself is probably not bad", he says with a warm smile.

Colbert has been working hard since the day Abigail arrived at Louise's call. Something with a human being summoned by a girl who couldn't even use magic just didn't sit right with him; that's when he stumbled upon the legend of Brimir and the Void, and his familiar Gandalfr. The magical light radiating from Abigail's hand is identical to the symbol inked in this old tome. "What have I gotten myself into now?", he asks no one in particular with a slight chuckle. He then walks to the window to look outside and he catches a curious sight; Abigail, Tabitha, Kirche, Guiche and Longueville are all loitering around away from the rest of the crowd.

"What's going on…?", he asks out loud. Then he sees it; the Golem rise from the ground with a roar. He also sees something that the others had not as his view is not obscured by dust at this angle.

"Fouquet!", he shouts as he turns to leave the library and assist the gallant young warriors facing her, she'll destroy them!

*scene*

"You brats just stand there quietly while I brag what I came for, or the girl gets it, understood?", Fouquet says in a mocking tone.

"Damn it!", I curse at the situation. If I could just go all out on this thing I could probably destroy it, but I can't do anything without hurting Mrs. Longueville!

"Guiche, do something!", Kirche yells as she grabs him by the head and shakes him around.

"D-d-d-d-do what? I'll die!", he says with tears in his eyes.

"You're an Earth Class too, can't you help?", Kirche says this time with a much more serious, pleading tone.

"Lady Kirche, I am but a Line mage, thus my magic is sufficiently inferior to this demon's", he says in an equally serious tone… while gesturing with a rose.

"He's right, he'll just die", I say with some humor undertones in an effort to break the tension. We need to be working together right now. Any of my more precise attacks will lack the power to damage this thing. I'll try taking out its other arm with Soul Ray. I channel the energy from deep within and guide it through my arm. As I grip my Talisman, the runes on my hand begin to glow. "I'm going to borrow some mana, Louise", I mutter to myself. I release the Soul Ray with a blinding light from my hand.

"What?", I hear Fouquet's nervous voice cry out. "Hnng", he groans as the right arm of the Golem is demolished, with pieces of earth falling everywhere. "What kind of magic was that!", he cries out in a fit. "Forget it, are you mad girl? I will crush her!", he says as he tightens the grip on Longueville. Sorry, but I knew she wouldn't kill you just for that. You can't kill a hostage so easily or it loses its value! I managed to get rid of its free arm though which should help us in the long run here.

"Are you crazy?", Kirche calls out as she grabs my dress by the collar. "You'll get her killed! I see that your magic is powerful but we need to be more tactful!".

"I understand, but I knew she wouldn't kill her for that and now the Golem has one less arm!", I say as I point towards the one-armed giant. "I've grabbed us some time".

"Bahahahaha, that was your plan, was it?", he says as he flicks his catalyst, to which the earth responds. Climbing through the giant's body, it allocates itself in his arm and it is reforged.

"No…", I say to myself. "That's cheating!", I call out while shaking my fist.

"All is fair, my dear", he says as he finally finishes moving the Golem and begins pounding on the building.

"That's the vault!", Kirche cries out. "She's not going in through the door, but through the wall!".

"Jump… on…", a tiny voice calls out. I look to see a familiar dragon standing in front of Tabitha. When did that thing get here? Kirche and Guiche both climb on. "Abigail… too…", she says as she reaches out her tiny little hand.

"I'll leave that to you guys. I'm tough, so I'll stay down here. The real battle's going to start once he decides to leave; he can't keep a prisoner forever and we can definitely move faster with the help of this guy", I say as I pat the dragon. "You three keep me covered", I say as I walk towards the giant. I don't know what I'm going to do, but it has to be soon. There are many treasures in there, who knows how much power he could unlock once he breaks that wall, and this way I can go all out without them being in any danger. The dragon leaps into the air and takes off. I'm sure they will know when to attack. If they go first, I'll join them and vice versa. The only question is when.

"Fireball!", I hear a familiar voice cry out.

"What?", I call as I turn around.

Boom!

The giant's right shoulder is gone… and so is half of the tower. "What the hell was that?", Fouquet exclaims, looking at the battered Golem, but then he notices the tower is now open. "Bahaha! Thank you girl!", he sings as he takes as he pleases.

"Louise! What are you doing?", I call to her. "It's dangerous here!".

"I know! That's why I wanted to help!", she says as she looks in my eyes with a determined look.

"But you're not! He has a-", I'm interrupted.

"Fireball! Fireball, Fireball, Fireball!", she repeatedly calls out that word. There are explosions everywhere but the Golem. The forest, the school, the courtyard; everything is being destroyed.

"Louise stop! He has a hostage!", I call out as I grab her arm.

"Eh…? Hostage…?", she says with a worried look in her eyes.

"Why don't you think we're attacking already!", I say to her with pure anger in my heart as I squeeze her wrist hard enough to break it. "If you just do haphazardly do this shit you're going to get people killed, stupid girl!", I begin to scream. Something is happening to me, I can hear the words that I don't really mean, but for some reason I can't explain, they won't stop. "This is exactly why I didn't tell you what I was doing, because I knew your dumbass would get in the way!", no! I don't mean that! That's not why I did it, I just want her safe!

"A-Abigail…?", she says as he eyes begin to tear. "W-what's wrong?", she says with genuine worry in her eyes.

"Bahhhhh!", I drop to my knees as I scream. What the hell is going on? It's like all the anger in my heart just jumped out at Louise for no reason! I don't want to scream or yell at her anymore, but when I try to force myself it just hurts! "Gahhh… ah… ah…", I breathe heavily as I try to center myself, but I can do is fight the urge to hurt Louise!

"Familiar!", I hear a voice that brings me back to reality; Mr. Colbert. "Longueville!", he says as he pants from running. "She's Fouquet! I saw her change clothes from the library when the Golem appeared!", he says with every ounce of strength he has.

"L-Longueville…?", once he says that, my mind snaps back to itself and I stand.

"LONGUEVILLE!", I call out.

"Tsh, damned old man", Fouquet calls out. "Ruining things when they were going so well!", she shouts as the Golem leaps towards us. That speed? I have to – wait! I look to the side and see a stunned Louise, w-wait, Warding! I try to cast the spell but shit, there's no time!

Boom! The ten ton arm smashes into the location where Louise's frail body stood. Dust and earth go flying in every direction.

"LOUUUISEEEEE?", I faintly hear Kirche's voice come from the sky.

*scene*

After a few seconds, the dust begins to settle to reveal the scene; a lone familiar standing before her Master with both hands on the ten ton fist stopping it in its tracks, her left elbow bending the wrong way, the bone shattered below the elbow and sticking through the skin. Her right shoulder visibly out of socket and down on one knee, every bone in her hands shattered and her ribs broken and she's barely able to breathe from a punctured lung. Her beautiful dress nearly shredded from the massive impact, barely hangs upon her shoulders. She didn't have time to cast her Warding, and even if she did, this would have been bad.

Unable to speak from the blood pouring from her mouth, she looks back to her Master who looks absolutely horrified to see if she's okay and simply smiles, then falls.

"ABIGAIIIIILLLLL?", Louise calls out, mortified. "Abigail? Abigail? ABIGAIL? Say something! Come on! I order you!", she says as she holds her familiar. "Someone? Please! ANYONE! I don't care if it's the devil, just please…", she trails off as she huddles down unable to speak through the tears. "Please…".

"Louise…", Mr. Colbert says as he tried to grab her arm. "Come on now, let's get you somewhere safe", but she doesn't budge. She just continues crying.

The giant stone fist begins to retract. "Oh look, I got insect guts all over my new Golem", she says as she licks her lips looking down on the flavorful scene before her. "Why don't you wipe it off, girl? After all, it was YOUR insect. Take some responsibility", she says while battling a sinister laughter. Something snapped within Louise at that moment. Those words; insect, girl, your, responsibility. These are all words that Fouquet should have never said, for it ignited an anger within the young Zero that burned with the fury of the sun.

"Responsibility?", she says as she wipes the her own tears off her familiar's cheek. "Who should take responsibility? Why would I take that?", she says as she gently lays down her friend's body. "Responsibility isn't what I want. It's not what I want at all", she reaches down onto the ground and grabs the Talisman of Beasts that was held proudly by her familiar that she dropped to stop the giant fist. "The only thing I want…", she grips the Talisman with all the strength in her tiny fingers, "IS YOUR HEAD! FIREBALL!", she shouts as she swings the Talisman at the giant Golem, tearing apart its shoulder.

"What?", Fouquet exclaims as she's taken aback by this incredible display of power.

"Louise…", Kirche says as she watches from above. "Let's go in closer, Tabitha!", to which Tabitha nods with all her strength.

"FIREBALL! FIREBALL! FIREBALL! FIREBALL!", Louise repeatedly shouts as she swings the Talisman as hard as she can, swinging sweat and tears in every direction as if conducting a beautiful requiem in honor of her pain. It's a competition with the regenerative abilities of the Golem at this point; Louise will destroy a part and the Golem will try to fix it as it makes its way closer to Louise with each step. Fouquet isn't sure what to think; she's a Square mage after all. How is this talentless little girl pushing her abilities to their limits? How is she actually making the great Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth fight like her life depends on it?

"BRAT! Don't be so full of yourself!", she says as she flings a piece of the Golem at Louise, knocking her back about ten feet. "Do you really think you stand a chance against me?". She goes in for the final blow. "I'll send you to insect hell with your friend!".

"Louise!", calls all three mounted on the dragon. There's no way they'll make it before Fouquet does.

*scene*

"_Abigail"_, an unknown voice calls. _"Open your eyes, Abigail"._

"Unnng", I moan as I force myself to respond. "Who's there?".

"_It's you, Abigail. The you that is inside of you"_, it says something strange.

"The me that's… what's going I on? I can't remember…", and then I remember it all. "Louise!", I call out as I try to move, but my body won't. "W-what's going on? I can't see!", I beg of an answer from the unknown voice.

"_Your body is dying, Abigail, and soon your soul shall join it."_, it says what I had hoped not to hear. _"Why is your body dead, Abigail?"._

"Why is it…? I had to protect Louise!", I say as I try to move again.

"_Louise? Why?", _it asks a foolish question.

"Because she's my Master!", to which I give the obvious answer.

"_After all, a familiar must protect its Master. Is that why? Was it out of a sense of duty as she was the one who 'saved' you?"_, it asks another strange question. _"Or have you genuinely come to care for her? After all, you're no ordinary familiar"._

"I…", I trail off. Were all my feelings simply gratitude? Did I just use Louise as a scapegoat to fell 'human' again? Did I just attach myself to her for the simple fact that she allowed it? Some of the things I said before… they were so cruel. I said those awful things to that poor little girl who only came running because she thought I was there fighting alone.

"_Why did you get so angry?"_, the voice asks.

"I don't know… It was uncontrollable! I didn't mean those things; it was like something possessed me.

"_You meant it, Abigail. You were terribly angry at her. Think about the reason behind the anger and then ask what caused it"._

"The reason behind the anger… I see. I was angry because Louise put herself in harm's way… I was terrified that she would get hurt by being there. Terrified…", I speak as honestly as I can. "But that doesn't change the fact that I felt… possessed".

"_So you see your genuine feelings. They are not things simply of gratitude. The possession you speak of, that was the collective will of your Souls. The will you so readily fight; my will. You are the Devourer of Souls; the most powerful demon of all. You are the one who gave lost souls a place in this world. All we wish is to lend you our power, but you refuse us. You are now faced with a choice, Abigail. Your Master is about to die, only you can save her. Put your faith in us as one, not just yourself. Devourer of Souls! Abigail! Rely on us! Let us help! Take our power and save your Master, or die like an insect for nothing beside your tiny Master!"_.

And in that instant; a blinding light overtook me.

*scene*

"LOUISE!", all three mounted atop the dragon call out. "We're not going to make it!", Kirche says with a desperation soaked voice.

Crash! The sound of earth destroying all in its path. The force used is at least ten times that which was used earlier.

"Bahahahahaha!", Fouquet calls out. "Another insect to wipe-", she is interrupted by a blinding light. "Wh-what?".

At the site where the young girl lay; a site that should be utterly destroyed, the arm of her Golem is split in two around a familiar surrounded by the Light of her Souls that stands before her Master as if a silent sentinel.

Her body still twisted and broken, blood running from her eyes, nose, ears and mouth, a right arm that could seldom be called an arm as it is, a shredded dress and nothing on her left arm from the elbow down, she stands. As firm as a statue and as fierce as a demon; she still stands.

"A-Abigail…?", Louise softly calls under her breath at the miraculous site before her.

"What?", Fouquet calls out in utter bewilderment mixed with fear. "You... You're still standing… You shattered my Golems arm just by standing there… This is impossible… Girl, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!".

Silence fills the field, nobody knows what to do or say; even Mr. Colbert is at a loss. Abigail continues to just stand there, expressionless and statuesque.

"_What am I...?"_, a voice like a powerful whisper comes from Abigail's mouth with an unnatural echo. _"I am ten million lost souls, forgotten, found then reforged. I am the broken dreams of an entire nation, given hope. I am fear, pain, suffering and guilt and also pleasure, happiness and hope. I am the broken, evil sword bent, broken and reborn! I am the Devourer of Souls! I am Abigail of Roland!"_, Abigail's husk of a figure moves for the first time since the dust settled and begins to stand, blood dripping from her body and bones visible from her severed arm. Her hollow, glowing, bright blue demon's eyes fixate on Fouquet; and then she smiles. _"But above all of that, I am the Demon of Zero, and I will devour your soul!", _tightly gripping the Silver Catalyst that is so precious to her in her remaining hand, an explosion of energy pours from her body. Orange earth flies into the air and blue Soul Light illuminates the night time battlefield. She gives form to the souls within her; a new weapon is born into the world, her most precious sword, the Northern Regailia. A sword nearly as tall as she is, forged from the Demon's Soul of the False King Allant and the two legendary swords Demonbrandt and Soulbrandt – Demonbrandt which smites evil, and Soulbrandt witch smites man himself – it shimmers with a beautiful light. One blade black and one blade white, it represents both sides of the heart. This is Abigail's treasure.

She drops the Catalyst onto the ground and places her hand upon the hilt of her treasured sword and the energy once again goes wild.

"Abigail!", Louise calls; but she doesn't respond.

Abigail pulls the sword from the ground and the runes on her hand begin glowing violently.

"Gandalfr!", Mr. Colbert cries.

The energy in the air stops suddenly, Abigail simply stands there staring at her sword in response. A worried Fouquet responds, "H-haha… What's the matter, 'demon', is the pretty light show over?".

Abigail looks towards her enemy and says one small thing with absolutely no emotion, _"I want your soul"_. She brings the sword above her head and points it to the sky as if to pierce the heavens, then drops it at an unrelenting speed not thought possible considering her condition; and all of the energy that was in the air - apparently cumulated within the sword - was condensed and released to turn the energy into a very long, infinitely sharp blade.

"Whaaaaah!", Fouquet cries as her body is contorted and the Golem is sliced in two. The result is an explosion; enough to mask the entire courtyard in dirt. Tabitha works her magic well to clear the area of dust and debris only to discover something incredible; the entire mountain behind where Fouquet was is gone!

"_She got away"_, Abigail speaks with little emotion. _"I will… pursue her_…"_, _she says as she tries to move forward, only to begin to fall.

"Abigail!", Louise runs to catch her, only to get trapped by her and her large sword. "Bah, help!", she yells as she flails her arms. She stops for a moment and looks at her familiar who is unconscious. "Abigail!", she cries as she shakes her body violently to escape the vise of the large sword until she notices it; this sleep is not eternal. This is a warm sleep, only to recover. Her eyes well up as she tries her best to hold Abigail from under the sword.

"Mrs. Valliere!", Mr. Colbert cries. "I'll have you right out!", only do have the sword begin to dissipate into light. "Marvelous… Abigail…", Mr. Colbert whispers as this unreal scene comes to a close.

*scene*

"So they couldn't save the arm…", I say to Siesta. "She's healthy though, right?". Several hours have passed and it is now technically the next day. I was scared at first when Abigail started yelling at me, but I was a complete idiot for even doubting her. There's a lot I still don't know about Abigail, it seems. She always acts so kind and strong, but I think she's just trying too hard to 'be human'. She needs to remember that Abigail is Abigail even if she turns into a toad! Though… there was something vastly different about her when she made her 'heroic' return… even though it was actually pretty cool!

"She seems to be blind in her right eye, as well. It doesn't seem to function at all and… it has turned completely white. Other than that everything she has will heal completely with time", she says with an air of sadness.

"At least she's alive… don't know what I would've done if something happened to her… stupid familiar", I say as I cross my arms and look down.

"Who's stupid?", a voice I've been longing to hear calls to me with a certain candor.

"ABIIIIGAAAAILLLLLL", I scream as I throw myself on top of her.

"Owwwww!", she calls out as I put my full weight on her.

"I don't care! You stopped a giant fist with your hands! You can deal with this till I'm done!", I puff as I hug her tighter. "I'm so sorry, Abigail! It's all my fault! You're only like this because I got in your way! I'm so sorry… please forgive me!".

"Lady Valliere…", Siesta begins to tell me to stop as Abigail puts her nub up, implying that it's okay. Then she looks down to where here hand used to be.

"Looks like I really dropped the ball this time, huh?", she says with a surprisingly peaceful look on her face as she looks at where he left forearm used to be. "I guess it's a small price for you to be okay".

"I'll spare no expense for you, Abigail. They have blacksmiths that make replacement limbs for people, the higher quality ones are said to be better than the originals!", I say as I hold her tighter. "I'll do it all for something simple in exchange… don't ever die".

"Heh", she lets out a small, happy laugh. She pats my head and says, "If that be thy wish, my Master".


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6**_

**-What Art Thou Right to Life, Demon?-**

"…_**The irony of our misconceptions of dreams and the future is that the dreams we truly desire are long forgotten, and we never even know; yet we spend our entire lives in pursuit" – **__Excerpt from the Chronicles of Ulidese on Human Preconceptions_

A lot happened last night; a lot of lives changed, I think. The battle with Fouquet was an utter disaster with absolutely nothing going according to plan. Not only did I lose my left arm from the elbow down and my right eye, but Fouquet managed to escape. I've been torturing myself trying to figure out what in the world happened to me in that fight. In all honesty; I should be dead. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that the vision I saw after being struck by that gigantic stone fist was anything but 'just a vision'. I remember after I woke up; and I remember having full control over my body, but something was vastly different. The closest thing I can think to describe it would be something like sharing the reins on a horse carriage with another person; or taking part in the planning of a battle with another general and watching it unfold. Then there's the matter of that ridiculous power that I produced; I have no idea where to even begin. The Northern Regailia – my most treasured weapon which I had thought was lost to me when I was summoned – was created right before my eyes. It was strange though, like I had the blue-prints, and though my hands moved on their own, it's as if I moved them. I know what I did, just not how I did it.

When all is said and done; I have no idea what the hell happened. The best guess I can make is that I had accepted the will of my Souls, and if only for that moment, our wills became one. If that's the case, it would explain why I had access to the full brunt of my abilities and knew wild secrets – like forging a Northern Regailia right on the battlefield – which I had no idea that I had. I suppose you could say that it was my true form; that of a demon.

I've been thinking about all of this and many other things all night; 'I haven't seen the others from the fight since I awoke in the infirmary, what should I say to them? Can I face them?' and 'what are the depths of my madness? Who am I really?', though it's all pointless. Though my mind races, I come nowhere near an answer, the only thing I earn is a sleepless night. The sun is beginning to rise, and a tiny Master sleeps with her head upon my chest. I don't have the heart to wake her considering how tired she must be; last night was quite the event. The show followed by the battle, that's probably more excitement than she's ever had in her little noble life. Louise literally fell asleep on me while hugging me last night; it was probably the cutest thing I've ever seen. Despite the fact that I finally showed my rather demonic side – what with the 'I'll devour your soul!' bit – she didn't even care, she was just that glad that I was alive. I still can't imagine the others will think the same, especially Mr. Colbert… it'll be a problem if they pull some religious 'exercise the demon!' bit, but there's no sense sitting here pining about it. I think I will go for a walk.

*scene*

After about twenty minutes of squirming, I manage to wriggle free from under Louise without waking her (which was quite hard with one arm half-gone and the other broken, mind you). It's still pretty early and it seems there's no one else here. That's good news considering how I look at the moment; wearing just a paper-thin, white robe that stops just short of about five inches above my knees, a make-shift sling on my right arm, bandages all over my would-be left arm and a certain lack of shoes that just completes the ensemble. The cold, stone floor tingles on my bare feet as I limp through the hallway feels surprisingly good. I suppose it's just the feeling of being alive – and still being able to walk after all of that. After about ten minutes I stop for a brief second for a rest; this building must go on forever! Despite my resolve to show no remorse, I can't help but bring my left arm before my face and stare longingly with my remaining eye… And smile.

"It was worth it", I say out loud to myself with pride. "It was definitely worth it". The sun begins to eclipse the mountains just as I say that, shining its beautiful light in through the large window before me illuminating me with its golden rays.

"A-Abigail?", I hear a somewhat familiar voice. "Abigail!", Guiche calls as he runs up to me; Catalyst rose in hand. "Should you be up? No, no, no! You definitely should not be up! Look at you! You're…", he trails off as begins to describe my current condition.

"Haha, what's the matter?", I say as I try my best to tease him. "Scared I'll beat you up if you speak your mind?".

"Wha- No! No such thing, my lady. I am merely… unsure as what to say in this situation", he says as he turns around. "You're incredible; there is no other word to describe you, Abigail. But as tough as you are, you shouldn't be up and roaming around in your condition!", he turns around and looks fiercely at me as he says that. "You're still healing. Even heroes need to heal", he turns slightly red as he makes a strange face.

"Guiche…", I say as I grudgingly stand up from my sitting position and pull myself in close to his face. He turns red as blood. "Are you expressing worry for me, my Lord?", I drop down to my knees and put my face into the ground. "I am unworthy! Please, do not show such feelings for one so lowly as me!", I yell with emotion! "I am not worthy!".

He just stands there, dumb-founded. I can see him searching for the words to say; this guy honestly thinks I'm serious!

"Fuuuuuwahahahahahahaha", I break out laughing as I can no longer retain my laughter. "Guiche… hahahahahaha!".

"A-Abigail… I have to be honest, I don't know what's going on!", he says as he reaches to help me up, as I'm fumbling around unable to stand properly by myself as I laugh.

"Oh Guiche", I say as I wipe a tear from my eye with my shoulder. "Thank you so much, you have no idea how badly I needed that", I say as I look him happily in the eyes. "And thanks for coming; you came to check up on me, right?", he promptly nods. "I didn't really like you at first, Guiche, but you're not as bad as the impression you give. Even though my beauty is all but gone, you still seem to genuinely care", I say as a slightly look away.

"Oh, but you have me all wrong", Guiche says as he places his rose to the sky. "I would never come to check up on but the most lovely lady who has been hospitalized!", he does his best at flattery. "And I'm glad to see she's already up, even if she should be resting!", he says as he knocks me softly on the forehead with the rose. "What you may have lost is no comparison to what you have gained, Abigail. Though I am a little concerned with the demon bit, but you are you and a beautiful you at that, so who am I to judge?".

"Guiche…", I think I might be truly moved by that, but whatever, I need fresh air. "Could you help me to the courtyard? I don't feel well and I would like some fresh air", I say as I struggle to stand.

"I can't allow you to that", a voice I do not know comes from some way down the hallway.

"Who are you?", I ask the hooded figure as it approaches with gentle steps. I sense no hostility but I do feel I am the focus if the woman's gaze. "Do you know her, Guiche?", I ask a question that he denies.

She approaches closer; if she truly wishes to hurt me then I have absolutely no chance. If she attacks, then Guiche is our only hope. I feel his grip as he puts his arm around me and stands in a defensive position. Is he actually ready to fight?

"By the command of Guiche the Bronze; I command you stop and identify your name and reason for being here", he says as he points the rose at the figure. This could be bad, if this is seriously Fouquet then we are as good as dead right now, and I am starting to get a little foggy in the head.

She now roughly stands ten feet ahead of us before she finally moves to remove her hood to reveal an incredible surprise with her identity; Guiche prepares to attack.

*scene*

Mr. Colbert had stumbled yet again on a huge secret; Abigail revealed her identity as the Devourer of Souls during the battle with Fouquet. What did this actually mean? There's no way that it's as literal as the name implies, right? He searched all night through the entire library for anything that could divulge any meaning behind what he saw. And that's just it; it's not the fact that she claimed that as her title, but the unnatural abilities she demonstrated afterwards. That magic was not human; it did not even seem to have a limit. Thankfully, even when her personality seemed to become more 'demonic' after where she should have died, her primary focus seemed to be on protecting Louise. But if Abigail's nature is truly that of a demon, then what is her true form? Does it even look human? And what if her desire to protect Louise is somehow twisted by her nature? What if she suddenly saw everything that possessed the physical ability to harm Louise as a threat? She might very well begin trying to destroy the world, and she might very well come close to it!

She generally seems very reserved with her power, though. That's a good sign as it will be less likely to have a negative effect on her. Still, this much is certain; Princess Abigail of Roland is dangerous, he will be watching her closely.

"Mr. Colbert", a voice he is very familiar with calls to him from the edge of the library. "Don't work yourself too hard, I believe you have little to worry about for the time being in that girl. In any case; I would like to speak with the ones involved in the battle last night as soon as they are able. Please, rely this message for me", says the old, bearded magician with his kind-yet-powerful voice.

"Certainly", Mr. Colbert says as he works his way to his feet. "Even Zero?".

"Even Zero".

*scene*

"Princess Henrietta?", Guiche says as he almost drops me from surprise.

"Shhh! I barely escaped from the guard, I don't want them to find me!", she says as she rushes to us. "So you are Sir Guiche?", she says as she looks him in the eye. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance", she says with a bow similar to the one I gave on the stage.

"Eh..ah… No, your majesty", Guiche stutters as he battles to return the bow, letting go of me in the process. "The pleasure is most certainly all of mine". He drops down to a knee and kisses the princess's hand.

"W…wah!", I shout as I begin to lose my balance, having placed most of my weight on Guiche before he released me. "Ow-ow-ow!", I utter as I fall on my behind – which is pretty painful considering my condition at the moment.

"A-Abigail!", Guiche freaks out as soon as he's realized what's happened and rushes to my aide. "I'm terribly sorry, my lady, I was so surprised…".

"It's fine, Guiche", I say with a pitiful tone as I am helped to my feet. "I only got crushed by tons of stone moving at incredible speeds last night", I say with a fake pout.

"Abigail? You are Louise's familiar then? The fabled Familiar of Zero?", the princess says with a child-like tone as she gets incredibly close to my face with huge puppy-dog eyes. "You're a princess too, right?". I can swear I literally see a tail wagging.

"Uh… yeah…", I spit out as I am taken aback by this surprise attack of cuteness. "And I see you are the princess of these lands. It is a pleasure to meet you, your majesty. I would offer more formalities, but as of recently I am missing the proper limbs to do so", I say as I wave my nub around. Her cute demeanor quickly fades to a look of horror as she finally notices the actuality of my condition.

"Wha…", she can barely squeeze out a sound. "This happened…. Last night?", she says as she gently caresses my former forearm with both of her hands. Tears begin to well up in her eyes. "I had heard only that you were injured but that you would make a full recovery… I had no idea… I'm so sorry! This is unacceptable!", she says as her look of horror turns to anger.

"Hey now, don't worry about it", I say in a calm tone as to try to calm her. "It's done, and it's my own fault. Though, I appreciate your concern, your majesty. You came here to visit my Master, correct?", I say in a pretty poor attempt to change the subject. She's in my room, it's not too far back… I really should be going back myself", I say in response to my overwhelming desire to pass out.

"I… did come to visit… but…", she says as she looks down.

"Then let's go, giddy-up, Guich", I say as I pretend to snap the imaginary reins around his neck.

"Yes ma'am!", he shouts with vigor as he suddenly whisks me up off the ground and carries me princess style. I can hear Henrietta make a sudden gasp; she must have realized what Guiche clearly has not. "But you're in no condition to walk, even with help!", I can literally feel my face getting hot as fire because of one little thing…

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU IDIOT?", I should as I begin flailing my arms around. As I turn red, I grab the bottom of my short robe and pull it down as much as my broken body lets me, "I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING ON UNDER THIS!".

*scene*

"There she is, still sleeping like a baby", I say as the three of us enter the room. It seems Louise hasn't even budged since I left; there's even a four inch wide pool of drool leading from her mouth on the bed. "She's almost like a doll when she's like this. So small, tender and beautiful", I say as I make my way to the bed and sit on the side. "I almost feel bad waking her up".

"We don't have to", Henrietta says. "I don't really want to disturb her".

"Nonsense, do you know how upset she'd be if she didn't get to see you, especially after you took the effort to visit her?", I say as I turn to look at the sleeping girl with the strawberry hair. "Louise", I saw as I begin to stroke her hair in an effort to wake her as gently as possible. "Wake up, Louise". She starts to move, then she mummers incoherently, then she smacks my broken arm away and mumbles something that sounds like 'leave me alone'. I can't help but scream, the pain of having a broken limb struck is hard to describe, but it is sufficient to say, "owwwwww!", I shout.

"Goodness!", Henrietta exclaims. Guiche only cringes. I suppose it's fine though, since she begins to sit up after I scream.

"Good morning, my Master", I say with an air of pain on my breath.

"Oh… good morning, Abigail. Have you sat my clothes out, yet?", she says as she's still waking up. Henrietta giggles.

"Yes… it's over there", I point with my nub. It seems to work as her eyes widen to the size of a fist and she instantly reaches for it.

"Abigail…", he says as she cuddles with it.

"You might have to point out your presence, your majesty", I say as Louise is simply hugging and rubbing on me contently.

"Oh… I didn't want to disturb…", she says as she slightly looks away.

"That voice…", Louise says as she looks around me. "Henriett-Princess!", she shouts as she jumps up and drops down in a kneeling position. "Please forgive my humble familiar, she would bow with me if her condition permitted it", she says in an oddly serious fashion.

"Get up you idiot!", she says as she runs over to Louise and instantly hugs her. "It's been forever since I've seen you, act like my friend, damn it!", she says as Louise begins to hug back. "I missed you so much!".

"I missed you too, Henrietta…".

*scene*

The princess only visited a short while, but she talked a lot. Some of the stuff she mentioned were things like the public unrest in Albion. Of course, it was all only small talk; she was so happy. My Master was too, and as such, I was happy. We then talked about the performance I did for quite a long time, although I didn't say much about it; that was Louise's job it seems! After being praised and the like, I was asked about my home and position. I told her the same as I told anyone who would ask; I'm only a princess in name only, even then, it wasn't a life for me really. Guiche never said a word, he just politely listened. I wonder if he's growing up or was always more polite than I have him credit for?

"She's something else", I say as I lean against the wall on my bed. "Probably an incredibly ruler".

"No doubt! Everyone loves her!", Louise says with glee. "I do too!". Her smile is seriously as big as a highway that could connect all the countries.

"I'm glad you got to see her, even with all the commotion going on", I say words as I think them. It seems to slightly upset her though.

"I meant it, Abigail, I'll get you a working replacement for your arm. They really do have that stuff; and I'm sure my family would be willing to pay whatever for it", she says in a serious time.

"It's not that big of a deal, but why is your family so willing to invest in me?", I ask an honest question.

"You are my first achievement they can be proud of. Not only that, you are a legendary achievement. They will spare no expense for you… even though I'll get scolded since it's my fault", she says as she looks down and kicks her feet on the ground.

"If they blame you, I'll hurt them", I say without hesitating under my breath. "Because it's not your fault. They won't blame you and I won't either, and anyone who does is a fool… especially if they think I can't still hurt them!".

"Abigail…", she says with a smile. "But you're not allowed to hurt Cattleya!", she says with a small giggle.

"Not to interrupt", says a certain whimsical Guiche. "But where are Kirche, Tabitha and Mr. Colbert? I came here because Abigail is my friend, but even if they didn't like her, it should be obligatory to thank the person that saved them", he says with some anger on his face.

"Don't worry about it", I say with a small amount of apathy. "What they saw were things of nightmares, I'd have been scared too it was me at their age. The fact that you two even still get within arm's reach of me astounds me, let alone would go so far as to call me friend. So just let them be; they'll accept it or assassinate me in my sleep. Either way, they'll deal with it their own way", I say half joking.

"Abigail… if you only knew how hard it was to decipher the difference between your jokes and your serious statements you'd stop that", Louise says with a small smile. "I understand that it's… hard. I have no problem accepting you for who you are since I know you – not to mention our connection – but you're barely more than a stranger to them", Louise makes a good point. "They only need to see the real you, even if the real you likes the taste of souls", she crosses her arms and stomps her foot as if to say 'and that is that!'.

"Is that what you believe, Guiche?", I ask the young man sitting patiently.

"Certainly, I have no qualms with one who fights to protect no matter what the means", he says easily. "Besides, all that aside you are incredibly sweet. So much so that I worry one may take advantage of you, so I have taken it upon myself to be your silent guardian!".

"Haha", I can't help but let out an audible laugh at that. "Thank you, Guiche the Bronze", I speak from my heart. "You aren't that bad after all".

*scene*

After a short while of some more small talk between the three of us, we receive a visitor. "Greetings and good morning to the three of you", Mr. Colbert says as he gently knocks on the door.

"Oh, Mr. Colbert, we were wondering when you'd show!", Louise says as she jumps up from her seat.

"Eh…? You know I was coming?", Mr. Colbert says as he raises an eyebrow.

"Huh…? Didn't you come to check on the condition of my familiar?", Louise says as her excitement turns to disappointment.

"Oh… No, I'm sorry. I came on the order of the Headmaster to request your presence; all three of you".

"All three of us?", I speak to the man for the first time. "May I ask why?".

"Oh… yes. Abigail, it's been awhile. The last time we spoke, it was in different languages. I'm sorry, I can only speculate that he wishes to discuss Fouquet and the incident from last night", he says with a surprisingly cheerful tone.

"I see…", I say as I look down. Something's bothering me. "Then you two go on ahead, he would probably like information as quickly as possible. Mr. Colbert will assist me to his office and we will join you shortly", I say in a serious tone.

"Abigail, I can help you my-", I cut her off with a smile.

"Master, it is not good to keep people waiting. It would be best if you arrived with due haste. Please do not worry yourself over me; Mr. Colbert looks like a strong fellow, and no doubt he will lend me his strong shoulder", I volunteer Mr. Colbert.

"Eh…?", Mr. Colbert is obviously surprised by what I said, but quickly collects himself when he seems to realize my intentions. "Ahem – Yes, do not worry. I will see to it that she arrives promptly and safely".

"Ah… Okay… I'll see you shortly then, Abigail", Louise says as she makes a polite bow to Mr. Colbert and grabs Guiche and storms out.

*scene*

"Certainly I was not alone in feeling the peculiar atmosphere back there?", Guiche says as Louise drags him by the arm.

"No, I felt it too. But I trust in Abigail's judgment", Louise says as she stops in the hall. "I guess they're going to have a personal discussion on what happened last night with Fouquet".

"You mean…", Guiche says as he hesitates to know the answer.

"Yeah, Mr. Colbert saw the whole thing after all. It's not strange for him to be worried. After all, you heard it, Abigail is a demon", she says as she has trouble speaking. "But she's my demon! She won't hurt anyone!", she begins to throw a small fit.

"Calm down, Mrs. Valliere", Guiche says in a calming tone. "We both believe in her, so let's just continue doing that".

"Ugh", Louise grunts. "Let's just go".

"Heh…", Guiche lets out a small laugh to himself. "I think you are the one we should fear, Mrs. Valliere".

*scene*

After the rather long trip to the office, the two young magicians finally arrive to meet two other young magicians at the door.

"Kirche, Tabitha", Louise says with a small amount of surprise. "You were called here too?".

Kirche stares harshly at Louise and speaks, "clearly".

"K-Kirche? What's wrong?", Louise asks meekly; she knows what's wrong.

"What's wrong? You're harboring a damn soul-sucking demon and you're asking me what's wrong?", she says as her temper begins to flare, only to be held back by Tabitha's calming hand. "I never thought much of you, Zero, but I never thought you'd resort to such evil". Kirche says with disgust clearly in her tone.

"Silence, Lady Kirche", a surprising voice appears. "You are not being very lady-like. We were called here for a reason by the Headmaster himself, now let's go in", Guiche says with a commanding voice no one expected from him as he opens the door.

"Ah… Greetings", kind-hearted, bearded man calls to them. "Where is the familiar?", he asks as he notices someone missing.

"She is still injured, sir", Louise says with her head down. "Rest assured, she is coming, albeit slowly".

"Ah, very good. As Mr. Colbert is not present as well I assume that that is his duty. In any case, we can get to business without her", he says as he stands from his throne and moves to the window. "Your operation was an absolute failure", he says with a lack of his previous tone. "Utterly, and I am disappointed. That does not mean, however, that you yourselves are failures. It is just as much my fault as yours. That is why I have called you hear again, as Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth managed to escape with a precious treasure; the Staff of Destruction. You don't know what that is, but you don't need to. Just know that its name says it all. So my next task is simply: retrieve the treasure", he says as he turns around.

"Retrieve…", Kirche blurts out. "The only reason we're even alive is because-", she suddenly stops speaking as she looks mortified, and we all look to her surprised. "Because…".

"Hmmm?", the Headmaster says as he were expecting such a reaction. "Because of what, dear?".

"Kirche!", Louise says as she begins to panic; the Headmaster will have her killed!

*scene*

"So, familiar, what is it you wished to speak of?", he says as if he already knew.

"Haha, you're sharp", I say in response. "Though I figure you're the one with the questions, not me. Go ahead and ask; I won't bite".

"Haaaa", Mr. Colbert lets out a sigh. "Very well, what are you?", he asks directly. "I mean, I heard your little monologue last night, but I want the truth".

"The truth?", I say as I move to sit on the edge of the bed. "I think that's a matter of perspective, more or less. Tell me, Mr. Colbert, what do you think I am?", I say with a playful smile, enjoying our current exchange.

"What do I think…? Please, I don't wish to play games. Are you really a demon? You're not human?", he says as he moves himself to a ready position, presumably in case I attack.

"Who knows?", I shrug. "What is a demon anyway?", I flash a sarcastic smile his way.

"If you're just going to dance around my questions, at least give me a legitimate answer to this one; are you a danger to those around you?", he stares me straight in the eye.

"Ha!", I let out a laugh. "You really are fearless! Facing what you've concluded is a soul-hungry demon, staring it in the eyes and challenging it! I knew I was right about you!", I say as I stand up and begin to make my way to the instructor. "Help me please, I can barely walk", I say as I reach out my severed arm, to which he makes a grim expression. "Do you know why I lost this arm?", I ask.

"Well… You took a direct blow from a gigantic golem, after all", he speaks the obvious as he makes a curious perspective.

"My arm and my eye were sacrifices", I say with an expression of contentedness. "Sacrifices to protect what's important to me", I say as I lean on Mr. Colbert and throw my arm over his shoulder. "Sacrifices for something precious".

"Abigail…", he says as he looks down at me.

"As I said before, Mr. Colbert, it's all just a matter of perspective. There's a lot to my story, but for now you can be content with the short version: my nature is evil, my very being is evil; but it is only a selfish evil", I say with a smile. "I am the Demon of Zero; a simple evil that exists to consume all that threatens my Master", I stop in the hallway as he helps me to move and look directly to him. "And nothing else".

Mr. Colbert nods in acceptance of that explanation; for now at least.

*scene*

"Kirche stop!", Louise cries as Kirche is prepared to reveal it all to the Headmaster. "Please!".

"What is it that troubles you?", the Headmaster says to Kirche.

"Abigail is-", she is cut off by a timely entrance.

"I apologize for being late, Headmaster. This young lady is still quite injured", he says with his usual air of kindness.

"Oh, the young human familiar summoned by Mrs. Valliere? Greetings, we were just talking about you. Anyway, please continue young lady", he says as he beckons Kirche to speak.

"Abigail is the-", she is once again interrupted by Mr. Colbert.

"The reason we are all alive, Headmaster", Kirche makes a sharp, perplexed look back at the instructor. "Though it may have been only to protect her Master, Abigail put herself in between Louise and her friends who faced Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth in a valiant display of courage and strength. This familiar really is something else", he says as he looks down to me expressionlessly.

"I'm not really worthy of praise, I only protected what's important to me like anyone else would", I say what I feel. I'm surprised that he did that; he must still not be sure what to think of me.

"Mr. Colbert!", Kirche cries out. "Surely you saw-", she suddenly stops when met by a gaze from Mr. Colbert that would stun the Dragon God himself.

"That's enough, Kirche", Louise says as she puffs out her chest. "My familiar is a hero!".

"Oh ho ho", the Headmaster lets out a jolly laugh. "What an interesting group of young ones you have here, Mr. Colbert! In any case, let us get down to business. The task would have you perform is the pursuit and capture of Fouquet of the crumbling Earth. Before you ask, I would like this to be done by our own for this is an embarrassment and any outside help would further these wounds. I trust you folks can handle it?", he says as he turns around to once again face the window.

"But… Abigail's injuries!", Louise blurts out.

"She is but a familiar, correct?", his now-heartless voice echoes. "If you're so concerned about it, consult her about the severity. She's not human, after all, and I'd wager she's better off than you think. Besides, what's your plan to defeat Fouquet without her? You should be proud, Mrs. Valliere. Your accomplishments with your powerful familiar has removed the stigmata of Zero from you", he says as he finally takes a seat signifying the conversations end.

"And maybe brought a whole new one…", Kirche mutters under her breath.

*scene*

"Kirche, what the hell?", Louise says in a fit of violence. "What's your problem?".

"My problem is you and your familiar!", she says as she points to me. "You knew what she was all along, didn't you!", she says as she raises her fist, ready to fight.

"Yes, she's my familiar!", Louise calls out at the top of her lungs. "And that's all I needed to know!".

"Calm down you two", Mr. Colbert says as he tries to prevent the situation from literally turning into explosions. "Arguing like this won't solve anything. Try to focus your thoughts and speak rationally".

"Very well", Kirche responds as she slows her breathing. "You know what she is, Mr. Colbert. How can you simply stand by and do nothing? Such a thing should not be allowed to exist, and we just let it roam freely!".

"You have no idea what you're talking about, child", he says with fire in his eyes. "I have seen true evil, it is not something one is born into; rather a state of mind and a matter of perception", he says with unexpected passion. "Mrs. Kirche, by your logic, everyone standing here should be killed", he says as he looks into her eyes like a viper. "It's plagued by zealot ignorance".

"But… you heard what she is!", Kirche retorts.

"That she's a demon? I have yet to see her do anything except use her power to protect Mrs. Valliere. Tell me; is that a crime worthy of death? Mrs. Kirche, the moment you begin issuing warrants of death simply because someone is different is when you become no different than a villain. I have seen a thousand humans I would be wearier of; despite her so called 'hunger for souls'. I know you mean well, but you have absolutely no grounds to say such things", says as he taps his staff on the ground.

Kirche frowns at Mr. Colbert as she looks to me, "Abigail, are you evil?".

"Of course", I answer unexpectedly, apparently, since they all gasp. "…What?".

"What are you saying, Abigail? You've always been such a good person!", Louise says as she tugs on my gown.

"Well, you are my Master, of course I am good to you. If you asked me to kill everyone in this school, then they are already dead", I say as I'm looking to her. "I'm clearly 'evil' by definition, but you are important to me. In fact, you're all that matters. Your orders are absolute, exceeded only by your safety. My evil is greed, and you're all I care to have", I say with my half-missing arm around her. "Since you're all I have left. My morality is your morality, Louise".

The room is rather speechless as I give my little monologue, but one person speaks, "in any case, it's clear to me that you can think of Abigail's power as Mrs. Valliere's. Seeing as how all that Abigail cares for is her and her safety; so long as Mrs. Valliere is a good person and you don't try to hurt her, you can count on Abigail not being a threat. Akin her to a violent dog told not to bite, I suppose. I will certainly not avert my eyes, however".

"That's madness!", Kirche calls out. "If we just-", she's cut off by my words.

"Kirche", I state plainly and loudly. "Any threat to me is also a threat to my Master, as should I come to be unable to protect her, she'd be in danger as she'd have no protection. I will show no mercy to anyone who threatens either of us; you would do well to remember that".

"Eh…?", Kirche lets out a small, weak sound.

"Kirche, just drop it", Louise speaks up. "Don't start any trouble; she's only a threat to the bad guys. I don't want her getting in trouble because if your loud mouth", she says as she glares at her.

"Damn it… Fine, but I'm keeping my eyes on you. Feel free to keep your 'eye' on me in return", she says as an obvious remark on my having lost vision in an eye.

"Like I said", I begin my retort. "I only need to worry about possible threats, not children with inferiority complexes", I say lightly with a playful nature as I make a sinister grin.

"… I hate you", she says in a surprisingly cheerful manner as she turns to leave. "We should hurry; Fouquet will just keep gaining ground".

Tabitha nods in relief with a sigh.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Notes: Hello once again! Here we are with yet another chapter of the Demon of Zero! This chapter is the longest one yet (I hope you've just come to expect that of me at this point!) and I loved every second of writing it. Feel free to let me know how you feel about it; the more you tell me the better I'll do!_** Please do enjoy.  
**_

_**Chapter 7**_

**-What Yonder Demons Break?-**_**  
**_

"**The most beautiful thing in the world is simple to find; for it is simply a lie. The same can be said of the most fearful".**

Before we begin our journey, my Master has a few preparations to make; primarily my clothes. Remember what I said before about how the battle was near where I washed the clothes? You see, during the battle with Fouquet, my usual ensemble – and the only clothes I own – were left out to dry while I wore that dress… which was also destroyed. So, as of now, I have no clothes to wear beyond this medical robe with no underwear, so she's trying to make some arrangements for at least a temporary replacement while we're away since I can't really borrow hers, not to mention how 'inappropriate' it would be for me to be wearing a noble's clothing; so we've come to a pretty interesting conclusion.

"Mr. Colbert", Louise says to the clumsy instructor. "I have a request".

"Yes…?", Mr. Colbert says cautiously. "Well you see, my familiar is in need of clothing…"

*scene*

"Fuwahahahaha", Kirche laughs at what she sees before her. "It looks like you're wearing a giant, purple king-size bed sheet!", she says as she grips her stomach giving the impression that her sides hurt. "Bahaha, I think you were better off with the medical gown!".

"That's enough, Kirche!", Louise says as she jumps to my defense. "Her clothes were destroyed and Mr. Colbert was kind enough to lend his… it's not Abigail's fault that he's such a big person!", she says as she stomps her feet and flails her arms.

"But just look at her!", Kirche says as she continues laughing and points at me. And there I pitifully stand, sleeves hanging down past my hand by almost a foot, the collar almost stretching from one shoulder to other, the bottom pinned up so I don't step on it as I walk and a cloth-bandage around my head and over my right eye to keep my ghost-white eye from being too distracting to would-be strangers.

"Fuuu… wahahahahaha", Louise begins to join Kirche in their choir of humor.

"Master!", I call out with a huff as I turn red in the face. "You've abandoned me!", I say as I fall dramatically to the ground as if defeated.

"No! I'm sorry Abigail!", Louise shouts as she runs up to me, to which I look up with an overly pitiful look with a small tear in my eye. "Fuuuu… wahahahahaha".

"Oh… she laughed again", Guiche says without the tiniest bit of emotion.

"Guiche, are you seriously going?", Kirche asks having seemingly recovered from her fit of laughter. "I mean, it's not like you'll be useful in any way at all", she says with a mild shrug and a smile.

"You… I'll have you know that I am a man. As such, I am entitled to watch over the warrior princess!", he says as he gracefully waves his rose-wand around.

"Ohhhh? How does Montmorency feel about this?", Kirche asks with a sinister grin.

"She's not very happy", the young, curly-haired blonde speaks on her own behalf. "But I can't be angry when he's so willing to go to battle. He's always been such a coward, maybe it'll toughen him up!", she says as she crosses her arms and turns her back.

"Mon-mon!", Guiche exclaims. "I am no coward, simply a fool led by the radiance of your beauty! I must prove myself worthy as a man".

"Oh Guiche…", she says with a blush.

"Oh wow", Kirche says with a sigh.

*scene*

After the humorous unveiling of my new attire and Guiche's display of his idiocy, we finally get to the task at hand. A rather plain-looking carriage and two average horses were supplied for our journey. Guiche, seeking some sort of usefulness, offered to take the reins and wouldn't allow me to no matter how much I insisted, which is probably for the best since I only have one hand. As it stands, our only lead is Tabitha's familiar; since despite all the things that went wrong, Tabitha had the state of mind to have her familiar pursue Fouquet. Her familiar is incredible really; it left various signs for us along the way to follow, primarily in the form of small etchings on trees and rocks with arrows pointing which way it was going.

"Bah!", Kirche says as she stretches. "This is so boring!".

"Would you be quiet!", Louise says in retort. "It's bad enough to be stuck in here with you, but you don't have to be so loud the entire way!".

"Loud?", Kirche almost screams. "THAT WAS THE FIRST THING I EVEN SAID!", she yells at an intentionally high volume as to spite Louise.

"Wah!", Louise covers her ears. "You're so disgusting!".

"How dare you!", Kirche attempts to stand up in the tiny carriage as she says that.

"Ew, ew, ew!", Louise calls out like a child. "Abigail, protect me from the Troll!", she says as she hides behind me in a playful manner.

"As you wish", I say as I pull out my Talisman of Beasts.

"Eh…?", Kirche makes a small noise. "Wha…".

My eyes begin to glow with the light of mana, you can even see it through my right eye which is covered in bandages; my fingertips begin to tingle with power. I pull forth the mana from deep within my core to release a fatal-flame! "Die! Fire-", I'm cut off mid-spell by Louise grabbing my arm.

"I was just playing, Abigail! Stop, please!", she says as she looks up to me with fear in her eyes.

I smile a sinister smile. "As was I, my Master".

Kirche drops back down and does nothing but make a nervous laugh to herself.

*scene*

We've been traveling just about all day now and the sun is beginning to set. Things have been pretty quiet since out little game earlier and Louise has fallen asleep on my shoulder.

"Here… Rest", Tabitha says her first words of the journey. Kirche and I look out the window of the carriage to discover a small village before us. "Refill… water… eat".

"This place is more like my home country than I'd have thought", I think out loud to myself.

"Oh? Did you have plebian villages that smell of urine, poverty and loneliness in your home as well? Or perhaps you were simply the Plebian Princess?", Kirche says in a disgusted tone.

"Are you implying that your urine smells of roses and rainbows?", I say in an official-sounding tone. "Does it smell of daisies? Lilies perhaps?", I say as I look to her and smile.

"Why you… that's disgusting!", she says with a biting tone.

"No, it's only rude. You're just as human as these 'plebian' folk; you should respect them for being able to live in conditions you deem unworthy of your goddess-self", I say without even looking at her, I hear no response.

The carriage comes approaches the village to have a young man probably in his mid twenties come to greet us, "hello, strangers!", he says with a cheerful smile. "We don't get many-", he cuts himself off as he looks closer, "- visitors, let alone nobles… that's for sure", he says as he scratches his head. "How may we help you?".

"We would like water, food and shelter for the night, please", Tabitha actually says a complete sentence for once.

"Ah, been traveling for awhile, eh? Unfortunately, you might be better off if you keep going. We'll be happy to supply you with whatever you need, however", he says having lost his rather friendly tone.

"What's wrong?", Louise speaks as she's finally waking up.

"Oh well… I don't want to trouble you guys", he scratches his head.

"At least tell us!", Kirche finally speaks. "I at least would like to know".

"Well… this village was much larger and more prosperous at one point, not too long ago either! You see… this young girl came to our village, and with her she brought a plague!", he says with grandeur.

"Plague?", Louise exclaims.

"Are you saying this village should be quarantined?", I speak at last; this could potentially harm my Master be that the case.

"Eh? No, it's not a disease… well not in the conventional sense", he says a confusing thing.

"Wait, then what kind of plague is it?", Kirche seems genuinely interested now.

"It's difficult to explain. See, this girl arrived holding nothing but a flower; she said it was really important to her. Thing is, she was all alone and really dirty as if she'd had no one to care for her for awhile. How she made it, I don't know. Hell, how she's still alive is a bigger mystery since no one here helps her… in fact, she's been accused of being a witch. I've not been involved, but I know without fail that some of the villagers here have had their hand in beating the girl. It's a wonder she's alive".

"That's horrible! Where is she now?", Louise pleads.

"I don't rightly know, to be honest. She's nothing more than a freeloader as things are; no doubt she's hopping around somewhere", he says as he looks around. "More on this plague thing though, it's not a sickness. Well, disease… I don't think. Every since that girl came, there have been many strange happenings and people have been outright disappearing! First it seems like things just start disappearing; which could be anything from ghosts to rats. Then it's like you misplace things, but other people remember you putting it there, it's just you who doesn't. Eventually, you stop acting like yourself completely, and one day just disappear", he says words that seem to confuse even himself.

"Are you serious? I've never heard of such a thing", Kirche says. "And this began when that little girl arrived?".

"Yes, but I should say that there's no way it's coincidence. I don't believe that girl is evil or a witch or anything, but something's up. When she first arrived, she seemed terrified and genuinely fearful of people saying absurd things like 'you aren't real, they told me!' and 'stay away, don't hurt me!'. Real wild things like that".

"Well, what do you guys say?", Kirche asks as she turns to us. "He said they're willing to resupply us; worst case scenario is we just sleep in the carriage. But we'd be leaving these people to their troubles", she says as she looks indecisive.

"Fouquet… came this way… her doing… perhaps?", Tabitha says.

"We have to help!", Louise makes her declaration. "These people are people too, and I can't sleep at night knowing they are suffering!".

"I see… what do you think, Abigail?", she asks for my opinion.

"I will do as my Master commands", I say firmly.

"Well, it seems it's decided then. Good sir, we'd like accommodations here, please, and any information on this plague or the girl", Kirche says as if she were the leader of our little group.

"Well, if you insist, certainly… There are more than enough empty houses now…", he says as he makes his way off. "Since you've decided to stay, I'll let you in one more bit of information. All of the people who seem to have contracted this 'plague'… have been rumored to be involved with abusing the child in some way", he says ominously as he turns and gestures to us. "Follow me".

*scene*

"Why didn't you ask my opinion!", Guiche whines. "Don't I matter?".

"No", they all three say in unison.

"Even Tabitha…", Guiche says as he slings his shoulders down. "Come on now, aren't we just giving Fouquet time to escape?".

"I hit her with my Northern Regailia; if her luck is good then she's badly injured, if her luck is bad then she's already dead somewhere. Add that to Tabitha's familiar tailing her, she will not escape", I declare.

"Sigh", Guiche lets out a sigh of resignation. "Very well, but what do you propose we even do? What CAN we do? We know nothing of this 'disease' that man spoke of".

"Well, not everyone is affected it seems. We should find out the differences as quick as possible, and clearly speak to the girl. The man mentioned something about rumored abusers being the ones affected, I think we should split up", Kirche says. "I'll go with Tabitha and ask the residents, Louise, take your familiar and look for the girl". We begin to go about our assigned asks when suddenly…

"Hey!", Guiche calls out. "Don't leave me behind!".

"Rats!", Louise calls out. "Looks like he decided to follow us…", she says as she snaps her fingers.

*scene*

"I still don't feel like we should be wasting our time here", Kirche says with a shrug. "I mean, what do we gain from this anyway?".

"…", Tabitha stops walking.

"What is it?", Kirche asks.

"Someone… watching… there", Tabitha says with a flick of her staff. Wind is released in the direction she pointed it, pushing trash and debris out of the way to reveal a slimy-looking fellow.

"What is THAT", Kirche says clearly with disgust. "And why are you walking to it?".

Tabitha makes her way to the man who appears completely terrified and speaks, "tell us… what do you know… of this plague?".

"Wha-wha-wha… you're nobles?", the man's terrified demeanor quickly turns to glee. "Ahem", he coughs. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Farquo Gamlen, an entrepreneur… or rather I was. Business has been quite stale since this whole 'plague' thing began".

"You? Are you certain you don't mean swindler?", Kirche says with a certain swagger. "You don't exactly have a respectable-businessman air about you… in fact, the only air around you is nothing but a terrible stench", she says as she pinches her nose and waves her hand in front of her face.

"I… apologize", he says with a nervous laugh. "As I said, things haven't exactly been going as planned. In any case, have you been sent to quell the sickness? You seem quite young but certainly able. Might I be of assistance in some way?", he says as he begins to rub his hands together.

"Information…", Tabitha speaks a solitary word to the man.

"Ah, how fortunate, for you see, my business just so happens to be in information!", he says as though another person has taken over his being. "For a modest price, I can certainly supply you with a service you deem satisfactory!".

"Ugh…", Kirche sighs to herself as she unbuttons another button on her shirt. "How much are you asking, brave sir?", she says as she slightly leans forward.

"Wha… I…", the man stutters as Kirche softly approaches him.

"Certainly… I am worthy of your business… right?", Kirche says with a seductive tone hot enough to melt iron.

"I… uh… yes, of course milady… but I-", the man is cut off by something surprising; a deathly scream.

*scene*

"Where do you think we should begin our search, Abigail?", Louise asks as she looks around.

"Well, it's actually a fairly large village but it seems to lack villagers, plus we didn't get even a proper hint as to where we should look. I would say our best bet is just to wonder aimlessly and ask any passerby we may find if they know where she is. Considering how they think she's some sort of plague-bearing monster, I'm sure someone is weary enough to know her location", I say rather monotonously as I scan the area with Louise.

"If I might speak", Guiche says timidly. "Would it not be wise to check around the village? If they've gotten to the point that they physically abuse the small child, she's not going to be as likely to run around within the village, I think".

Louise stops. "Guiche", she says with a commanding tone. "You actually said something useful, good job", she says with a somewhat-sinister smile.

"…Then why do you look so angry?", Guiche says even more timidly than before.

"Because I never asked for your opinion in the first place!", Louise says as she runs at Guiche prepared to attack.

"Wa… Waaaaaaah!", Guiche calls out as he runs frantically.

*scene*

"I can't believe we're actually doing this", Louise says with dismay.

"It's the most likely case, though", I say.

"Lady Abigail", Guiche says. "I believe I've spotted the young lady we seek", he says as he points to a small body of water.

"It appears you are correct. You two stay back while I go check, she may actually be sick", I say as I step in front of them.

"Wait!", Louise says as she grabs my flowing, purple robe. "What if she actually is? You could die! We should send Guiche instead!", Louise says with somewhat artificial tears in her eyes.

"Wha-wha-what?", Guiche stutters wildly. "I am too delicate for such things!".

"If that's your wish, Master", I say as I turn to Guiche. "However, I'm not human and it's not very likely any illness she has will affect me fatally".

"Oh… well if you're positive that you'll be okay!", Louise says with a smile.

"You really don't care if I die, do you?", Guiche yells.

"No", we both say in unison.

"You three seem very close", a very cute, small and sweet voice calls to us. "But you shouldn't be out here; they don't like people here".

"You… are you responsible for the condition the village is in?", I push Guiche and Louise behind me as I turn to the voice.

"No!", she yells. "I would never hurt anyone! But nobody believes me… they only hurt me and call me mean things like 'plague bearer' and 'witch'. I don't even know what those are!", the tiny girl says as she begins to weep.

"Calm down now", I say as I lean into her with more calmness than before, still signifying them to keep their distance. "We won't hurt you, just tell us what happened. What's your name?".

Her tears finally begin to subside long enough for her to speak, "Newt, daddy called me Newt".

"Hehe, that's a cute name for a cute girl", I say with a gentle laugh. "So how did this all begin, do you know? We might be able to help".

"It's hard… it all-", the girl can barely get past the first sentence when she is interrupted by a blood-curdling scream. It came from the others direction.

*scene*

"I think it came from this way!", Louise shouts.

"Stay behind me, Master!", I call out. "Guiche, you go first!", I shout as I grab him by the shirt collar and wield him masterfully as a shield.

"Wah!", he humorously calls out. "I'm too beautiful to be a shield!".

"Then rot like a dead tree in your precious Earth!", I shout as I slam him head-first into the ground.

"…What did you do that for, Abigail?", Louise says curiously.

"He'll just get hurt if it's dangerous", I say without looking at her.

"Heh", Louise lets out a tiny laugh befitting her petite frame. "And you still insist you're a demon".

Just as she says that, we arrive at the source of the scream, meeting the others in the process.

"You guys heard it too?", Kirche asks.

"Yeah, it must have come from this house!", Louise replies.

"I believe this is Mrs. Johansson's residence", the strange man with Tabitha and Kirche calls out.

"Who's this?", I ask.

"Just a bug, don't mind him. Let's go in", Kirche says as she makes her way into the house. She opens the door to find the first room completely destroyed; furniture is broken, their dog is slaughtered on the ground, flowers are laying spread out on the ground broken, all the pictures are destroyed and there are scratch marks all over the walls. "What in the world happened here?", she asks as she cautiously makes her way into the house.

"Get back!", I scream as I grab her by her collar and pull her back just before a portion of the roof collapses where she stood.

"I… thank you", she says with a scowl as she wipes the dust off her lap.

"Something is very strange about this", I say. "Please, if you will allow Master, I'd like to enter by myself. I must check on something".

"Abigail", she says as she has clear reservations about allowing me to go alone. "Will you be okay?".

"Certainly, Master", I say with a cocky smile. "If I'm right, then I'll be fine; if I'm wrong then I'll destroy the entire house and escape through a window!", I gloat as I stand with my arms crossed, a smile and my chest puffed out. "Besides, if I am right, then it's too dangerous for us all to go in at once".

"Very well, Familiar, I'll leave it to you", she says in an official tone as she prepares to give me orders. "You are permitted".

*scene*

The scene is brutal; like a portion of a war-story or sad portion of an epic poem. Even the faces are scribbled out of precious family portraits. I cautiously enter the building, completely aware of my surroundings. I don't know for sure what's happening, but my gut tells me to be ready. Besides, if my hunch is anywhere close, then this could be a tough one. Eventually I make it to the wall opposite of the door where the scratch marks are to discover something rather amazing, on top of the ones about the size of my hand, there are various, smaller scratches as well. "What on Earth…", I say as I begin to touch the scratch to be interrupted by another scream.

"Buwaahaaaaaaaaaa", the woman lets out in a maniacal fashion. "Leave me be!".

Disregarding my safety for speed, I quickly evade various traps similar to the roof falling when Kirche entered to rush up the stairs to look for the source. When I arrive again, it's returned to its previous quietness. I have to figure this out! As I slowly make my way through the hall way I hear a voice once again, this time it's different from before. "Who… are you…? Why… are you… here…?", the voice asks in a very deep, dark tone. "Can't… you tell…? You're… not… permitted here… They… don't want… visitors… They… don't… allow it", the voice continues. I can't locate it, it's almost as if it's literally coming through the walls.

"Where are you!", I shout. "Show yourself!".

"Show myself?", the voice speaks with almost a callous laughter. "There's nothing… left to show!", she shouts as suddenly a body leaps from the room right next to me. "DIE".

"Umph!", I grunt as I miraculously avoid the small blade she was holding, only to turn around and see no one there. "What… the hell?". Her body has completely vanished; even the door she swung open is no longer open. "What's going on!". What just happened is impossible… she literally disappeared!

"Heh… heh… hehehehe", a sinister, dark laughter comes from the walls once again. "You… are different… aren't you?", it says as if it means it. "You… are not… human?", it seems to be a legitimate question, I should oblige to give myself some time.

"I am not", I say firmly. "I'll tell you exactly what I am, if you tell me what you are".

"Heh…hehe", it laughs once again. "But I already know… what you are… Devourer of Souls… You and I are similar. No… the same", it says something strange.

"What… how do you know that? Just what are you? Can't you tell me? Maybe I can help", I attempt to reason with the strange existence.

"Yes… hehe", it answers while continuing its psychotic laughter. "Help… that is what you do… isn't it? But… is that really you… or your souls that… truly… speak", it attempts to get under my skin. "Are you truly… Abigail of Roland… anymore? You cannot deny… the influence of your souls".

"Wha…?", I stumble on my words. "How do you know so much about me?", I ask, to which I get no response. "Fine, I'll answer your question; I don't know who the hell I am anymore but it doesn't matter, I have purpose and that defines me".

"Purpose…", it repeats me as if contemplating my words. "Yes… Purpose… as I said; we are the same… hehe", it says as if talking to itself. "I have purpose… as well… Devourer of Souls… You should understand… my suffering… hehe… yes… I will show you… my suffering!", it screams in a horrifying voice as light overtakes me and I am thrown violently backwards through the window behind me.

*scene*

I wake shortly thereafter to Kirche standing over me, "you're finally awake, you worthless familiar!", she shouts at me.

"Wh… what happened?", I ask as I attempt to sit up to suddenly see the village engulfed in flames. "What…?".

"A little bit after you went in that house, you came flying out of the window following a bright flash of light! After that, something appeared and burning the village and all its people!", she says as her face contorts to a horrible look. "Tabitha is dead!", she says as she begins to cry uncontrollably. "I couldn't do anything! It was so sudden that neither of us could react! That beast just appeared… and thrust its weapon through… her chest…", she begins to lose the ability to speak through her tears.

"Tabitha… Kirche, where's my Master?", I say as the most important thought enters my head.

"I… don't know… she… ran off… as soon… as it appeared", she says as she continues to sob.

"Kirche, please, can you fight?", I ask as I go to put my hand on her shoulder only to have it smacked away.

"Fight? WHY SHOULD I FIGHT?", she begins to scream hysterically. "WHAT REASON DO I HAVE TO FIGHT?".

"I understand", I say as calmly as possibly. "Please, stay safe then", I say as I stand up and begin to run back to the building I flew out of.

*scene*

The village is a hellish scene; there are bodies everywhere of men, women and children. Before me right now, in fact, are the charred remains of what appears to be a young mother holding an infant. The buildings are burning or burnt, screams can be heard across the village of both humans and something inhuman. Devastating, blood-curdling screams. I begin looking for any trace of where my Master may have gone; I still have the runes on my hand so she must be alive. Normally I can 'feel' her location with it, though. Wait… Why can't I? It's almost as if-I am cut off from my inner thoughts by a voice, "it's you!", the slimy-man says to me. "The girl who went into that house! What in the world happened in there?".

"Huh…? Oh, the squirrely-man from before. I don't know, there was a voice that I talked to shortly before being blown through that window to wake up to this hellish scene. What happened after I went flying out?".

"Well, I don't really know the full details, but a woman in black appeared and killed your short-haired friend immediately… sorry about that. The redhead then went into a bit of a rage and unleashed an incredible attack on it, but she simply disappeared. She then ran to her friend and tried to help her. She seemed to be able to whisper something to her before she died, but all I saw was the redhead lay her friend down and drag you off… and then all this happened… and here you are", he says as he continuously scans his surroundings.

"What about the smaller girl with the long hair?", I inquire information as to the location of my Master.

"Oh, you know, I'm not sure. She was there when you went flying out of the window… but I don't remember seeing her after that", he says as he scratches his head. "That woman in black didn't get to her right then at least, I can tell you that much".

"Fair enough, can you give me more information on this woman in black? Did she seem to be missing a right arm?", I ask about the murderer.

"No… she had both of her arms. But the strange thing I noticed about her was the staff she used to kill your friend… had a candle on the end", he says something insane.

"What…?", I respond with almost shock. "What the hell did you just say? A candle… Are you sure?", I shout as I grab him by the collar and begin to shake him.

"Y-yes ma'am… I am quite sure", he struggled to get out as I choke and shake him.

"No… there's no way…", I utter as I drop him to the ground. "That can't be!".

"I'm not sure what you're worried about", he says as his words bring me back to reality. "But you might very well be the last person here who can end this… plus you might want to go look for your friend", he says as he reminds me of something important.

"Louise!", I shout as I turn to search for her. "Louiiiiiise!".

*scene*

I've been running for I don't know how long yelling out my Master's name. I can't find anybody; I don't even hear any human screams anymore. I can feel it though; the souls are beginning to stir. I need to hurry and find her!

"Louiiiiise!", I call out again. "Can you hear me!".

"Abigail!", I hear her voice! "I'm over here!",

"Master!", I run up to her. "I was so worried abou-", I'm cut off by something I can't believe. "…Master…?", I say with a moderately horrified tone.

"You know", she begins to speak as she reaches down to the body of Kirche lying before her. "I hate Kirche", she says blatantly.

"What…. Are you talking about?".

"Oh, don't pretend like you like her? I mean come on, she was so arrogant and foolish. Not to mention, she flaunted her body like she was the best looking girl in the world", she says as she gently rubs her hand put the corpse's stomach."But you know, I had an idea!", she says as she smiles and looks at me. "All of this confusion, I could use it! I could take advantage of the chaos and finally get rid of her!", she says something ridiculous.

"…What… do you mean…?", I ask, bewildered. "I always thought… you two… Master… what…?", I can't properly form my thoughts.

"Hahaha", she lets out a childish laugh as she stands up holding a bloody knife. "I'm sorry, Abigail", she says as she turns to me. "That was actually a lie; I didn't really come up with the idea".

"What…?", I reply.

"She told me how to be strong!", she says as she points the knife to the sky, splattering blood all over her. "She said that I could get rid of Kirche, and I could finally use magic! She said I could be like you!", she says with a joyful tone something dreadful. And just as she finishes her sentence, the world distorts for a moment and a woman appears behind her with her arms around her.

"Ah", the woman lets out a deep, relieving breath. "This brings back so many… memories", the familiar figure in black says. "Just like my sweet little Abigail when she took her first steps to becoming a murderous demon!", she says as she licks her lips. "It's beautiful".

"…You… it can't be… I…", I try to say what I'm thinking.

"You killed me? ", she finishes my sentence for me. "Come now, Abigail, who do you think I am? Do you really think a low-tier demon like yourself could actually absorb and control me? No way, I simply needed another vessel. This one had grown so… weary".

"No!", I shout. "You were going to put the Old One to rest! You were going to save everyone!".

"Bahahahaha!", she lets out a laugh as she still hangs around Louise who simply listens. "That is why I love you, my cute little Abigail! And that is why I chose you for my next vessel, and that is why I made your body strong!".

"I can't believe this!", I should as I feel a tear falling from my eye.

"That only means that it worked!", she shouts as she begins to laugh. "You see, I needed to form an incredible affection in you for me, then I needed for you to absorb me. That way, I could easily manifest in your subconscious thoughts, then slowly make my way to your conscious thoughts. You can't seriously have not noticed this; the scratching at the back of your head, your feelings changing, the way you think changing? That was all me! Hahahahahaha!", she lets out an evil laugh. "And now you're all mine!".

I begin to feel my body moving on its own. "What… what's happening! Why am I moving?", I shout as I try to stop. "Because that's my body, now! But before I have full control… there's one thing I need to do; break you. That'll be easy, though!", she says in a strangely cheerful tone. "All I'll need to do is have you do the same to this young lady as you did to me!".

"Wha… No! Stop!", I shout as I try to fight it, but to no avail. My body is no longer my own, and all I can do is slow it. "Please! Maiden! Stop this!".

"Bahahaha!", she cackles like a maniac. "This is why I love you, Abigail! You're just so cute!".

I take short-but-sure steps toward my Master, and there's nothing I can do about it. No matter how much I fought it, I finally stood before my Master.

"Hi, Abigail", she says with a smile.

"Louise…", I can barely speak at this point. "Run… please… I can't…".

"It's okay", she says something stupid. "We'll both be a part of something powerful; so it's okay".

"No… that's not what… this is… this is… an eternal… prison", I say to her as I feel tears pouring from my eyes without limits.

"But it's with you", she says with a smile. I can no longer fight it, my hand reaches to her throat with lightning fast speed and latches on with all the strength in my hand. I lift her off the ground by her throat.

"Louise…", I manage to utter one more word.

"Ehehehe", the Maiden says as she circles around behind me. "You're so beautiful, Abigail", she says as she reaches her hand onto my face. "But where's that look of bloodlust you had before? I feel it suited you much better", she says with a bit of a pout. "But no matter; your body will be making that face a lot when we're done here!".

"Where is your pride, Abigail?", a voice I haven't heard in a long time screams out. "Is this all we can expect from a Bonafide Knight!", says the iron-clad man as he charges at us with his great sword in the air; he brings it down. "Where is your resolve? Surely this nonsense is but a laugh for you!", his sword goes through my remaining arm, severing it from my body! I go flying back from the force of his iron shoulder slamming into me and sending me flying. I could do nothing to avoid it. "There are two things a Knight will never lose", he says as he's suddenly standing over top me. "His sword or his shield… bahaha, metaphorically of course!", he shouts with a belly laugh.

"What… Biorr… how?", I ask, perplexed.

"Same reason that you're here, I suppose. Went chasing after something foul again, eh?", he says as he turns around. "I would say leave this one to me, but as luck would have it, damn thing is going to expel me without fighting! Bloody coward…", Biorr says as his expression contorts.

"Biorr…", I call out to him, as if there's nothing else to do.

"Yes, child?", he says, knocked from his self-inflicted daze.

"What should I do?", I ask him, desperately.

"Bahaha, if I already told you, young one!", he says with yet another belly laugh. "Your sword and your shield, what are they for?", he asks something that strikes me at the very core.

"…Louise", I answer directly.

"Then what in the bloody hell are you doin' to the poor lass?", he says with a humorous anger.

"I don't know… I couldn't control-", he cuts me off.

"Hogwash!", he shouts. "You only believed you couldn't, just like you believed that lie out there is the Maiden!", he says something amazing. "Think had about it, girl!".

"Ah…", I utter, still taken aback by this revelation.

"But it looks like she's finally gotten to me, time to go!", he prepares one last line. "Just never forget; beware the limits of your own powers… or something! Hahahahaha", he laughs as his visage begins to fade.

"Wait! How are you here! Are you dead?", I finally snap back to myself for one last question. "Bahahaha, wrestled that bloody dragon to the death I did, with my bare hands! Bloody thing never stood a chance!", says as he fades away laughing.

"You're right…", I say to myself. "It really didn't".

*scene*

I manage to clear the rubble out of my way with some time to see the scenery the same as before with one difference; the looks of the Maiden. That certainly is no Maiden that I knew. She is slightly shorter than me with four, large insect wings; insect eyes and two large antennae on her head. She is completely naked covered only by a slight glow.

"…A fairy, huh? Haha", I say with a small laugh. "I knew it too! How did you trick me so easily? That was my first hunch!", I say, laughing only at myself.

"I think I should be the one asking questions…", she says. "How did you create that knight? You did that once you figured it out, right?", she asks a silly question.

"Bahaha, Biorr? Hell no!", I yell out. "He came to me!", I puff my chest out.

"Wait… how is that even…? Wait…? You mean you are SERIOUSLY a Devourer of Souls?", she asks, looking as astonished as a bug-like creature can look.

"Of course. You were looking through my memories to confuse me, right? That's how you knew of that and the Maiden. You then applied all the strongest memories in my heart; killing the Maiden my affection for Louse together to confuse my heart and make it easy to manipulate me. Basically, if I believed you, you won, right?", I say with a snarky tone.

"How do you…? You still didn't answer my question! Where did he come from!", she shouts like a little girl.

"I am *the* Devourer of Souls; I am a beacon of light to both lost and found souls of this world and the next. I noticed it before when these people were dying, I felt souls but it wasn't right. I quickly forgot about it though when you started up all this nonsense. Anyway, Biorr, an old friend from 'life', saw that I was about to do something that would utterly destroy me, being that this is essentially a dream, he had no problem making his heroic appearance!", I say as I gesture grandly in an effort to mock the fairy.

"You… you're incredible", she says as she begins to smile. "But I'll ask you something; do you remember the tales of the people going crazy in this village?", I freeze as she says that, suddenly terrified of what comes next. "That's because everything you did in this dream up to flying away… your body was doing in the waking world as well… hehe", the fairy says with a child-like giggle.

"Bullshit", I say outright. "You won't trick me again", I say as I cross my arms.

"…I only wanted you to know my suffering", she sounds sad for just a moment. "Very well, if you don't believe me… then you only need to wake from this lucid dream", she says as she snaps her fingers that explode with a brilliant light just as before.

*scene*

"Hnng", I moan as I open my eyes. "Where-", I'm cut off as I am slammed the ground by a few of Guiche's golems. "Wha…?", I speak with a cloudy mind.

"What is wrong with you, Abigail?", Guiche shouts in a frenzy. I turn my groggy head from him over to the scene unfolding beside me; Kirche callout out to Louise who lays motionless on the ground. My eyes widen with fear.

"L…. Lo….. LOUIIIIIIISE", I shout with the fury of every soul in my body. I feel the power flowing through me uncontrollably. "!", I scream. "GET OFF!", Guiche's golems go flying from me. "Louise!", I shout.

"Stay back!", Kirche shouts as she stands up with Tabitha in a defensive stance. "I knew it would happen! I knew you would show your true form sooner or later! Why don't you just go back to where you came from!", she shouts as she slams her hand through the air.

"Kirche…", I mutter. "So I… did this…?".

"YES, YOU DID IT YOU DAMNED DEMON!", she shouts with all of her strength.

I run at her quickly, closing the distance between us in less than a second, and before she can react, I place my hand on her rib cage and thrust her to the side, sending her flying about twenty feet. I then look to Tabitha and I say, "the culprit is a fairy", as she prepares an attack, to which she abruptly stops, makes a rather shocked face, and nods. "I believe I understand the situation enough for a solution, but for the time being I am taking my Master with me. Kirche won't have any real injuries; please try to explain to her the situation as best you can to her". She nods once again, and I take off, my young Master over my shoulder.

*scene*

"Suffering… huh?", I say to myself as I look over Louise's frail body. Fortunately, she seems to have no permanent damage, only unconscious. This situation… it's just so uncomfortable; a fairy playing on people's fears and dreams, and feeding on them. I do believe her mission was a success, though. I think I understand her suffering.

"Hnnng…", Louise begins to awaken. "Where am I…", she says as she looks around, then to me. "Oh… Abigail, hi", she says as she smiles. "Feel better now?", she asks with genuine concern… enough to make me want to kill myself to atone; I take the kneeling position before her and lower my head.

"My Master", I state in an official tone. "I am terribly sorry, I have failed you completely. With my own hand, I put your life in danger and it was only because of my own-", I'm cut off by something unexpected.

"FIREBALL!", Louise shouts as she aims her spell directly for me; the resulting explosion sends me flying. I'm still alive though, as I see the smoke beginning to clear revealing the morning sky. "You stupid familiar!", Louise shouts as she suddenly jumps on me and starts beating on my chest. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!", she says every time she hits me, she begins to cry. "How dare you!", she looks me directly in the face not more than three inches from me as we both lie on the ground.

"I'm sorry, Master. I hurt you-", she, surprisingly, punches me directly in the face.

"How dare you let someone trick you!", she says as tears fly from her eyes.

"Wha…?", I am perplexed at the situation; how could she know that?

"How dare you let someone play with your heart like that? How dare you let them hurt you like that!", she shouts as she continues to slam her fists on my chest. She's not concerned at all with the fact that I tried to kill her with my own hand at all… Is she only concerned with my feelings?

"Louise…?", I say to her. "Do you know what happened?", I need to know.

"Huh…?", she says as she takes a break in her beating. "No…", she says as she slightly slumps over and looks to the side. "All I know is that you let someone made you cry, because when you gripped me, I could see it… You've got me now, Abigail, so you aren't supposed to cry anymore unless you're happy! You aren't that weak!", she says as she punches the ground next to my head, then collapses on top of me and puts her arms around me. "You aren't supposed to be sad anymore! Stupid familiar…", she whispers in my ear as I return the hug and think out loud…

"Familiar…".

*scene*

After that little scene was over, Louise and I sat up and I explained to her the situation. She seems to understand it surprisingly well, and seems to believe that I'm correct in my assumptions.

"So, we only need to find Newt, right?", she asks.

"Yes, that's why I brought you here. I figured she may show up", I say as I turn to the little body of water.

"You're looking… for me?", the young Newt says as she peeks from behind a tree.

"Newt!", I shout out happily as I run to her with my arms open, only to have her shy away from me. "Oh… you saw it, didn't you?", I say as I turn to the side a bit.

"Mhm…", she says as she nods. "Gala hurt you too".

"Ah, so Gala is her name. It's really pretty", I say to her. "Did you name her that?".

"Mhm…", she nods. "She shined really brightly, I thought it suited her", she says as she smiles.

"And that flower you carry around? What is that for?", I ask as I peek around the tree.

"It was daddy's", she says as she sounds sad.

"I see. Daddy isn't here anymore, is he?", I ask as I crouch down.

"No… Daddy died when I summoned Gala", she says.

"But Gala didn't hurt her, right?", I ask her gently.

"No!", she shouts. "Gala isn't bad! She isn't a plague! She is only trying to protect me! Daddy taught me how to summon Gala when the people started coming; daddy was a forbidden mage".

"So he practiced magic that people were scared of, huh?", I say to her.

"Mhm… the people were coming to hurt us, but he showed me how to summon Gala and told me not to open the door no matter what, and to tell Gala 'hurt anyone who would hurt me', so I did. But she did that to people! I didn't want that! I just want daddy!", she begins to cry.

"Come here, honey", I say as I outstretch my arms to her. "Listen… daddy is gone, and he left you a precious keepsake and friend in Gala. But right now, Gala is just as alone and scared as you are… I know that now; I understand her suffering. She only wants to protect you, Newt. If you call her, she'll come. Just tell her that she doesn't need to hurt these people anymore and she will stop. She's doing it all for you", I whisper into her ear.

"For me…?", she says through her crying voice.

"Yes… because she loves you more than anything and just wants to protect you, but right now she's just confused because she feels like she's failing you… just call her here, we can talk to her together", I say to the kind young girl as I push her away from me gently. "You can do that, right?". The young girl nods.

*scene*

After a few minutes of wiping tears and Louise talking to Newt, we decide to call Gala here.

"Remember, with all your heart, just call out 'Gala, I need you!'. Just like that", I say as I put my hand on her shoulder to give her strength. She nods.

"Gala, I need you!", she shouts into the little body of water. After a second or two, a tiny, glowing head pops out.

"Y-yes… Master…?", the little voice calls out.

Newt looks to me for reassurance, and I nod. "It's okay now… You don't have to hurt anyone anymore!", she yells out to the tiny, lonesome fairy. "Because you have me, you don't have to be sad anymore!".

"Master!", the fairy flies out of the water directly to Newt. In the dream, she was almost as tall as me, but in reality she is just big enough to fit in the palm of my hand. "Master! You called for me!", she says excitedly.

"It's okay now, Gala… I'm sorry I made you sad", the young Newt says dejectedly.

"No!", the fairy exclaims. "You never made me sad, not for a minute, Master!".

"Hehe", I giggle at the fairy. "What a cute little bug!", I say as I lean in mockingly.

"Wh-what do you know?", she says as she crosses her arms and turns away. "Shoo, you second-class familiar, the grown-ups are talking!", she says as she waves her hand at me as if to shoo a fly.

"What?", I yell. "You stupid fairy!", I yell as Louise grabs hold of me and pulls me back.

"Haha, come on, Abigail", she giggles.

"Stupid buuuuuuuug!".

*scene*

"What an annoying familiar", the fairy says as she sticks her nose up.

"But she's really sweet", Newt says as she reaches out her up-turned palm to the tiny fairy. "She really does care, you know", she says as the tiny familiar shyly sits on her hand. "Just like I do. I'm really sorry for everything up until now, Gala".

"Me too, Master. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do, so I just kept hurting people who could hurt you… I only want to protect you!", the fairy says with emotion as it looks up to Newt.

"I know… let's protect each other from now on, okay?", she says as she smiles. "Just like daddy wanted…".

"Mhm!", the fairy replies.

*scene*

It's been a long night, to say the least. Of course, many people lost their lives to the unfortunate sequence of events that took place since that group mobbed Newt's father. A desperate familiar and a scared little girl wreaked havoc on this little village; though I think that's a story best left untold.

"There you are!", Kirche comes running wildly at me and tackles me. "Tabitha explained everything, but that still hurt, you know?", she says as she looks down at me fiercely.

"Your words hurt pretty bad back there, too", I reply. "It's nice to know your true feelings though", I say as I look away, still lying on the ground.

"Oh…", she says as she suddenly remembers. "Yeah… I'm sorry about that, I was wrong, okay? It wasn't you, it was a fairy controlling you with a dream. I get it. That was probably pretty bad, especially since it just made you do that to Louise… so I'm really sorry, so just forget about it, okay?", she says with what seems to be a genuine air.

"Haha, it's fine, Kirche. I don't really care about what you think anyway", I say as I forgive her with a joke and throw her out of the way.

"Why you!", she shouts as she begins to stand up.

"It all… made sense", Tabitha says to me as I approach her.

"I had faith that the gallant Tabitha would understand me!", I say as I pat her head. You really saved me, I'm not sure what I would've done if you and Kirche had seriously attacked me. I mean… Master comes first…", I say as I turn my head.

"Yes", she says as she nods. "We both… understand".

*scene*

The village head was perfectly happy to let us sleep through the day, since we didn't get to last night. Well I did dream… kind of. And after a good day's sleep, we were ready to hit Fouquet's trail again.

"I feel so bad for these people…", Louise says.

"Well, considering the ones that died were beating a little girl, you don't have to feel too bad", Kirche replies.

"I guess… What do you think, Abigail?", Louise asks me.

"… Whatever you think", I reply with a complete copout.

"By the way, you stupid familiar", Kirche interjects. "We're taking the girl with us".

"Huh?", I turn around, perplexed by her sudden reappearance.

"She doesn't have a home and she is a noble by blood. She'll have a place in the academy; especially with such a powerful familiar. They'll want her to have a full understand of it and a good relationship with it".

"Fine… but why are you telling me this? Don't tell me… you actually respect me?", I say with an exaggerated gasp. Louise giggles a little bit when I say that.

"Sh-shut up! I just didn't want you to be surprised, that's all!", she says as she turns and walks away.

"Hehe", I can't help but giggle.

*scene*

As we're preparing to get on the carriage, I feel something tapping me on the shoulder, "only you can hear me right now, so no one will believe you if you try to tell them!". The familiar, tiny voice speaks directly to my mind, probably using the same magic to create the Lucid Dream.

"Oh, if it isn't Gala", I think to the little fairy. "How do you do?".

"Listen…", she speaks awkwardly. "Thank you… I really mean it… You really did understand me, and I see now that all I had to do was talk to you. For that, I apologize as well. You're a good person… or demon… or whatever… but above all of that; you're a good familiar! You really care for your Master… just like I do. So thank you once again… I guess we'll never see each other again, so I wanted to say this now", she says as she begins to fly away. "Goodbye, familiar", she says.

"Where do you think you're going, heh?", I shout out loud as I turn to grab the tiny familiar.

"Wh-wh-wh-what are you doing?", she stutters in disbelief that I reached out and grabbed her. "Unhand me!".

"But I'm simply taking you to your Master!", I say deviously.

"…What?", she says bluntly.

"Here, Newt, I'll help you in. It's a big step so be careful!", Louise says as she helps the little girl in.

"As if you're one to talk, you're the same size!", Kirche says with a laugh.

"Wait a second… What's happening?", the fairy asks.

"Oh, no one told you? How rude! Basically, Newt is coming with us. Kirche is going to give her a home and training", I say with a smug look. "After all, she is a noble!".

"Wha… You mean I'm going with you?", she yells.

"You? I don't think anyone ever mentioned you so you can just leave if you want", I say as I begin to giggle. "But… hehehe… Your Master is coming with us! Buahahaha!".

"No! Master! Waaaaait!", Gala says as she frees herself from my grip and rushes to the carriage, flailing both her arms and legs.

"Hahaha, this just got a lot funner!", I say as I rush to the cart right behind her. "I'm coming, Louise!".

And with that, our nightmare ends; a lonely fair feasting on the dark dreams of a village, and our carriage rides off into evening sun, loud with our friendly bickering, and two new friends. You know, I don't think I drove here… are we missing something?

*A few minutes later*

"Waaaaiiiiittt fooooorrrr meeeeeee!", Guiche shouts as he chases the carriage with all of his might.

*scene*

Unbeknownst to the group of young magi, however, an evil eye was upon them as they continued their journey.

"Hehehe…", the evil laugh echoes through the air from the back of his flying, beastly mount. "Interesting".


	8. Chapter 8

****Author's note: Greetings, all! I'll keep this short and sweet on the off-chance that a person or two wants to get straight to the chapter. Sorry I've been away so long, but stuff is going on and I've been getting training for submarines. There's a lot to do and you gotta do what you gotta do. Anyway, I do hope you guys enjoy, and please leave a review telling me whether you liked it or not!

_**CHAPTER 8**_

_**-Into the Demon's Eye-**_

"_Have you ever seen a demon? Not the things of stories, but with your own eyes? Fearsome beasts, they are. From the nether, knowing only to consume and destroy. They are beings born of Chaos. They are fear, incarnate. " - Knight Artorias to Dragonslayer Ornstein_

Sometimes, when the cool night's breeze blows upon my neck, I can't help but ponder things. I know it's an unhealthy habit – especially for someone like me - but it's just part of who I am. I think of things like, 'is it wrong to find peace here?'. I've done so many things in my life. Many things you could damn me for, or commend me for, depending on your perspective. I suppose obtaining the level of raw power that I have would near be the envy of any king or warrior. But I've killed, stolen and used. Yet I'm happy. Somehow, I just don't see the justice of it all. But then, what has justice ever done for anyone?

The crisp winter wind blows coolly through the window of the carriage as we travel. It's been several days without stopping save for essentials, and everyone is worn out. I suppose it's an indication that we're approaching our destination given that there is less and less space between the markings as we travel, which seems to say that they are slowing. Though, right now, I feel more like a bed than a warrior. Somehow both Newt and Louise managed to cozy themselves up on top of me somewhere. Newt is firmly planted on my lap, with Louise comfortably against my arm. Kirche is lying on her back and is easily taking up the entire bench on the other side of the carriage, lying in her back, mouth wide open and snoring. Heh, I dare not to think how embarrassed she would be. Even Tabitha is fast asleep in the floor leaning against the door. I'm sure where that annoying little bug went. Though, Guiche has been vigilant as our driver ever since he caught up with us. I swear, I didn't know! Speaking of Guiche, however, I think I'll sneak away from these bedbugs and talk with him. I need something to get my mind off of dark thoughts.

"Ahh-", Guiche moans to his companion. "This is rather boring, don't you think, Verdante?", he off-handedly asks the giant mole sleeping soundly on the horse's back.

"Lonely?", I speak a solitary word with a smile after sitting cross-legged on the top of the carriage for several minutes with no notice.

"Wha-", Guiche turns around startled immediately. "A-Abigail… May I help you?", the little man meekly says.

"I can't seem to fall asleep", I say with little emotion as I look to the clear sky. "I thought it might be nice to have someone to talk to!", I say once again with a smile.

"Oh… Well, I certainly am not against speaking… While we're on the topic, though, you are incredibly hard to read. Did you know that?", he says with a slight candor, and maybe a little bit of anger, as he flicks the reigns.

"I'm sorry, Guiche. Have I upset you?", I ask a seemingly innocent question… which, much to my dismay, seemed to have only agitated him further.

"Upset…?", He repeats me under his breath. "Abigail, I simply don't understand you. Again and again you insist on taking every burden you possibly can, and again and again you blow us away with some extraordinary feat. I don't know of your life before you came here besides you were a princess. So you say, anyway. You aren't like any princess I've ever seen", he takes a deep breath and leans back in his seat. "I know you're strong, Abigail, but even you have a breaking point. Even with all of the power you have… Why don't you quit trying so hard to find it and let your friends carry some of the wei-", before he continues, I interrupt.

"Guiche", I speak his name. His body doesn't even move; he simply freezes where he's at. "What you're doing… you don't have to. If I were to break, it'd have been long ago. I am a knight. I am a warrior and a demon. I stand strong like the mighty stone walls of Boletaria Castle. My sole concern is Louise. And in this cause, I am invincible!", I shout as I stand on both feet and smack my chest with a proud smile.

"No, Abigail…", Guiche says with a small, surrendering laugh. "Even the mightiest slab of stone will crumble alone under the weight of a castle. It takes more than one to build a wall. Sigh…", he ends his statement with a sad sigh.

"Geez, Guiche", I say as I cross my arms… or rather I place my nub on my other arm. "What's with you? You're being so… not Guiche. You really don't have to worry about me", I say in an effort to ease his nerves. I don't know why he's acting as he is but I feel quite responsible. "It's my duty to fight for my Master, Guiche; my duty to take her burdens. And so, each burden that becomes hers becomes solely mine to bear. Do you understand? It's not about what I can or can't do; it's about what I have to do. An arm and an eye are simply par for the course".

That leaves little more to be said, by either myself or Guiche, in regards to this topic.

"Indeed. You truly are the soul of honor, Abigail", he says in a slightly more usual tone. "All of that aside; I had been under the impression that you rather disliked my company. Yet, here you are. Or perhaps, you were simply that bored?", he says with a slight amount of both hope and fear in his voice.

"Haha!", I let out a bold laugh – probably too loud considering out sleeping companions. "You entertain me, mongrel!", I say in an incredibly sarcastic, mocking way. "Just as all mortals, you are merely a jester in my court that is the world! So long as I am amused, you are free to be in my presence! Bahahahaha!".

"…Heh…", Guiche lets out a slightly relieved laugh. "Dodging the question, are we? …Or perhaps not. I never really know with you".

"Hey, we're on a mountain, aren't we?", I say to the still-sighing Guiche.

"Eh..? Yes, this is the path that flying lizard took us on. I do swear, it would be nice if it had remember that we cannot fly like him…", Guiche mumbles to himself in quiet discontent.

"I think we should take set up camp nearby", I say to Guiche. "It would be bad if we faced Fouquet while fatigued, and it seems we're drawing near. This would be a good place to do it, too, as I bet we can find some natural hot springs nearby!", I say with the cheesiest grin.

"Ah… I see what you're getting at. I agree, as well. Not to mention, I am beginning to develop calluses on my beautiful hands…", Guiche says with seemingly genuine despair.

"Indeed!", I shout with vigor and excitement. I get to take a bath!

*scene*

We discovered a quiet little area next to a rock wall that would be excellent in terms of a defensive position, should we require it. I felt kind of bad waking everyone, considering how soundly they were sleeping, but I couldn't help but wake Kirche last. Seriously, who could resist?

"You did that on purpose!", the diamond in the rough shouts to me, still with drool on her cheek and hair as if she'd been electrocuted.

"Did what, milady?", I ask with my hand over my mouth, barely containing my laughter.

"Look! You're laughing at me!", Kirche shouts while flailing her arms like a child.

"Heavens, no. Perish the thought!", I say with genuine sarcasm while throwing my hands into the air.

"Oh… Hmph!", she snorts as she stomps off behind a rock.

"Hehehe", I giggle under my breath.

"Abigail!", Louise yells my name.

"Oh, Master, I'm glad to see you've gathered yourself", I say with a polite bow to her.

"Oh… uh… yeah… But that was mean of you, you know", she says to me as she looks over to Kirche.

"Whatever do you mean?", I say with a smirk.

"Sigh. Abigail, I know it's Kirche and she's an idiot, but she's not a bad person. Even she could be your friend someday", she says with sincerity.

"Master, I have no need or desire for such a thing as a friend. I am here as a sword and shield! So long as my blade tastes my enemy's blood and my shield keeps you safe, I am complete", I say without my previous light-heartedness.

"I see… Then am I not your friend?", she asks an odd question.

After a moment of silence, assessing her seriousness, I answer, "…You are my Master, Master; the one who formed the contract that summoned me here, and the one whom I've sworn my sword to; the solitary reason for my existence".

"…I see", Louise hangs her head. "Then that is all I am to you? A child you're burdened to protect?", Louise's question lacks its previous conviction.

"Eh…", I'm not sure what she's trying to say. "Master… I don't understand what you're trying to ask me. You are the most important thing in the world to me", that should answer her question. Obviously she holds a position much higher than a simple friend to me. I thought she knew that…

"I…", Louise has trouble speaking, "I don't want that!", Louise shouts loud enough to hurt my ears as she steps back. "If that's how it is, you can go back to the Void!", she shouts as she turns and runs into the forest.

"Wha…", I am mortified by what she said. I don't understand, what's wrong? "L-Louise!", I shout as I reach out to her diminishing figure, only to watch it fade into the darkness of the lonely forest. I drop to my knees, arm still outstretched. "Louise…".

"What happened?!", I hear Kirche shout as she clumsily stumbles over to where I am. "Abigail? Where's Louise?".

I can't hear her. My mind is overcharged with the question, 'what happened?'.

"Abigail!", Kirche screams as she grabs my shoulders and shakes me. "What the hell happened, I've never seen you look like that!". Her touch brings me back to reality.

"Uh… Kirche…", I say her name with a whisper. "L-Louise… said that she… didn't want me", I barely choke out the words. "And to… go back to the… Void".

"What…?", Kirche let's go of my shoulders. "What the hell did you say to her?!".

"She asked me if I thought of her as my friend… I told her she was much more; my sole reason for existing… My Master. Then she said it… and ran off… Why…? Kirche, why? Did I do something wrong? I overstepped my rights as a being that doesn't deserve to exist… didn't I? I'm sorry… It's hard to forget that I'm not human, sometimes… What do I do… Kirche?", I look with pleading eyes to the fiery redhead, who is showing little passion.

"A-Abigail…", Kirche says as she crouches down to look me in the eye. "Listen closely; I'm going to go find Louise. It's very cold and dangerous, and she's all alone", she says as she places her hand on my cheek. "I don't care if she likes me or thinks of me as my friend or not, I don't want her to get hurt. It's a simple thought. You know there are rumors of bandits on this mountain, right? If you don't stand, right now, there's a very real possibility that Louise could be in very real danger. Above her orders, is her safety, right? Even if she hates your guts, as long as you're under that contract, you are her sword and shield", Kirche says something that breaks me out of my woe-is-me trance.

I stand.

"Kirche, let's go. I dislike having to rely on someone, but I'm still not moving very quickly, I'll need your help", I say as I look her in the eyes.

"You got it", she replies with a smile.

*scene*

"They've been missing for awhile now…", Guiche says to the two remaining members of his group; Tabitha and Newt. "I'm starting to worry… just a bit".

Tabitha looks at him and shakes her head.

"Wha…What does that even mean!?", Guiche starts flailing out of frustration. Suddenly, seemingly in response to his outburst, Tabitha stands and readies herself. "Eh… I'm sorry!", Guiche cries as he drops to the fetal position.

"Enemies…", Tabitha says as she turns her back to Guiche. "Everywhere…".

"What?!", Guiche says as he joins her in a ready position. "We're surrounded, then?".

Tabitha nods her head.

"What a great time for those three to be wondering around in the forest…", Guiche says, replied to only by the sound of Newt's cries and a swift kick in the abdomen. Guiche is truly in awe. Before he knew it, a woman had appeared in front of him and brought him to his knees.

As he falls to the ground, he hears only a few words before he loses consciousness, "bind them all to the rock wall. I don't want their hands able to move at all! The blue-hair is especially powerful, so take special precaution with her. And remember; no harm is to come to them, otherwise our negotiations will hold no merit!".

Guiche's world fades to black.

*scene*

"You're starting to get heavy, Abigail!", Kirche whines.

"Oh, sorry", I apologize as I pull myself off of her and onto a nearby rock. "Let's rest here for awhile".

"Maaaaaan", Kirche lets out a pathetic moan as she props herself up against a tree behind her. "We've been searching for ages, where in the world could she have gone?".

"Ah… Who knows? I suppose she may have gone back, and we simply missed her… Hey", I call for Kirche's attention. "Why don't you head back? If she is there, it'd be good to know. The others are probably kind of worried as well".

"Okay… but what about you?", she asks me as she crosses her arms.

"I'll keep looking for awhile longer. If she's there, why not have Guiche send out Verdante to let me know?", I propose.

"Hold on, Abigail. You're in no condition to be out here by yourself. Your injuries are even worse than when that golem plowed into you thanks to Gala, and even if they had been healing all this time, I wouldn't be comfortable leaving you out here alone", she expresses apparent worry.

"Haha, I appreciate that. It reminds me that you aren't entirely disgusted by me", I say with a laugh.

"Haaaa?! Quit being stupid!", she exclaims as she stomps her foot. "You're j-just a stupid familiar, i-it's not like you know any better!".

"Indeed! Haha", I let out a belly laugh. "But seriously, Kirche, I'll be ok-", I'm cut off by a threatening aura. "What's this, then?". I say as I stand and look to Kirche, to which she replies with a perplexed look. "It looks like we are no longer alone".

"What? Is it enemies?", she says as she moves her back to mine.

"I'd wager so. At least it's someone who wants something from us. Probably those bandits you mentioned earlier", I am surprised as a voice I did not expect replies.

"Bandits?", the grizzled old voice calls out, seemingly offended by the title. "Girl, we are no such things. We are merely warriors whose home was razed by would-be nobles!", the owner of the voice steps forth from the shadows.

"A magician… interesting", I whisper to myself. "Aren't those who wield magic noble by blood in these lands?", I ask of the old man.

"Nobility is a term mismatching its use, anymore", the man says as the wind blows to free the moon from the clouds to reveal the man's scarred face. "Nobility simply means an arrogant fool".

"Heh…", I can't really argue with him on that subject.

"You are not from these lands", he says as he looks me in the eye. "Then you are of no use to us. If you please, you are free to go".

"Huh?", being slightly confused, Kirche speaks out. "Come on, Abigail, I've heard enough", the man raises an eyebrow when he hears my name. "It's just one man. He's definitely powerful, but considering what I've seen you do, there's no way he can defeat us both, even in your current condition!", Kirche begins to walk to him, to which I stop her just before a full-sized sword flies right through where her face would have been. It was not aimed to kill, however, it was a sword aimed at her face none-the-less. "W…Wh…", she's stunned.

"We're completely surrounded, Kirche. If we fight here, you will likely die", I say as I bring her back to me. She nods her head.

"Hahaha!", the man lets out what seems to be a genuine laugh. "Even in that condition you were able to see and stop that blade before it harmed your friend! Haha! Magnificent!", the man sticks his arms out to the side in a grand fashion. "The young lady was not kidding! She truly did summon a human familiar, didn't she?!".

My eyes widen. Fear stuns me solid.

"Surprised? We found her running foolishly through our forest all alone! She cried for 'Abigail!'", he says as he moves his right arm to point at me. "'The mighty familiar of Louise Francoise Le Blanc De La Valliere will see you dead where you stand if you do not let me go this instant!', she said as we bound her tightly!", he puts his arms back down and his jolly expression changes to a dire one. "She did not cry for long". My eyes widen as the souls are unleashed

**I am fire.**

_Innocent destruction._

**One million souls move as one.**

_They stampede_

**We separate from memories.**

_A heart with no mind._

**We are one.**

_Harmony is absolution._

**We are forgotten.**

Harmony is death.

_**-The Demon Awakens.- Part 1.**_

"_Huuuueeaaaaaghhhhhhhhh_!", a blinding aura of Soul Light that can be seen for miles shoots forth with overwhelming intensity. Kirche is sent flying back into the darkness of the forest in an instant. Trees begin to bend and crack under the pressure of her power. Her bandages fly from her body, revealing her scars. Soul Light, beautiful in its destruction, shoots forth from the nether of her heart, where her souls reside.

"Yes!", the old man cries with glee he has not felt in decades. "This power! It is real! Show me!", he cries in a voice befitting a king. The incredible pressure of her power seems to have no effect on the old man as he watches Abigail's power shoot forth from her body.

"Sir!", one of his subordinates calls out to him. "It's too dangerous here, we should retreat!".

"Hahahahaha!", the old man laughs. "Are you kidding me, boy? What we are witnessing… It is the things of legends… Power incarnate! Child, this is the power of Soul Light!", he says as he raises his arms once again grandly.

"Soul…", the young man is stunned by his words. "Then she is…?".

"Indeed, boy. Indeed,", the old man replies. "The time has come. But you are right, let us return for now. Without her sanity, there is no restraint on her power unending. Grab the red head before we go", he says as he backs into the darkness with his assassin-warriors.

"Abigail… For so long… Welcome to this world, o' great demon…", he mutters to himself as he makes one last glance.

*scene*

Louise had not been running for very long. It had not been long before she felt like a complete fool for what had happened. In all honesty? She had merely been half asleep. Having just woken up, she misinterpreted the conversation. However, being as stubborn and prideful as she is, she couldn't just bring herself to waltz back in with a casual, 'haha I'm sorry!'. No. After all, she told her precious Abigail to go back to the Void. Such a thing is unforgivable. So she says, anyway. She knows Abigail would forgive her entirely, and is probably still only concerned with Louise's safety. Not just because she is her Master, but because she cares for her. Imagine that, she only continues to trouble her.

"I'm such a useless idiot…", Louise says to herself as she sits, holding her knees to her chest. From a hollowed out tree, she can see the sky. It is a cloudy night, but cool and beautiful. It seems the clouds could reveal the beauty of the moon at any moment. That's when Louise decides that when it does, she has to return to camp and apologize. "No matter what, I'll do it… even if I have to hang my head!", she says as she turns her knuckles white; both with fear of embarrassment and anxiety of regret.

She thinks to herself that she'd enjoy walking around for a bit. If they were looking for her and she ran into them, then all the better. Perhaps that was her goal all along. After all, Louise is not strong. She likes to hide her feelings through implied coincidences such as this. Trying to force a situation where they come to her rather that her going to them. For one with her pride, this is the easiest way to initiate reconciliation, but it also proves to her just how weak she can be. But – in her mind – "at least I can do this much…".

Crack.

Startled at the sudden noise of some sort, Louise turns behind her to face it. To her – at this moment – it was probably the last thing she expected to see.

"…Verdante?", she says calmly to herself, and a little relieved. "What are you doing here?".

As she reaches to pet the faithful familiar, it suddenly scurries back a bit. "What's the matter?", she asks it with some concern. The creature seems quite bothered by something at the moment, leading Louise to believe that there is trouble.

"Okay, I'll follow you, just lead the way", she says as she notices the light of the moon illuminate the peckish creature. "Ah… Just in time, I suppose", Louise thinks out loud. But wait, the source of this light is not the moon. But, what is it? Of course, she knows. It is a symptom. Yes, a symptom of power.

Louise recognizes above all other light in the world – as the one who wields the darkness of the Void – the source of this light; the Light of Souls.

"Abigail!", she shouts and she runs to the light, leaving the small creature to its own devices.

*scene*

"Ahh…", Guiche lets out an exasperated sigh. "Where am I…?", he wonders aloud as his weary eyes begin to take in the dim light of the fire.

"Good morning, sleepy-head!", an unknown, sisterly voice calls to him. Guiche recognizes it; it's the voice he heard just before losing consciousness. How, then, does it sound so kind? "Don't make that face, we're stuck together for now so we might as well get along, right?", she says with a smile. The woman is beautiful and young, probably only slightly older than Guiche. She has long, dark and black hair that reaches down to her hips. She is clothed in black leather armor with a cloth cloak around her neck. Across her ample bosom lies a belt of throwing knives, and on her hip, a long dagger. This woman probably relies not on the might of magic or her fists, but the guile of her speed, cunning and agility.

After gathering his senses and ensuring that his companions are more or less unharmed, Guiched relaxes, if only slightly.

"Eh…", Guiche thinks to himself for a moment. "Then, milady, at least do me the service of explaining what's going on?".

"A logical question, with a logical answer; you're a prisoner! Don't worry though, we don't actually want to hurt you or your friends. This just seemed the safest way to approach the situation!", she says something that Guiche finds absurd.

"Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea who I am-", he's cut off by the woman's premature response.

"I don't really care, to be honest. What we want doesn't really have anything to do with you, rather your tiny little friend who seems to be absent at the moment", she says rather apathetically.

"Absent… You mean Louise…?".

"Yes, her. We were wondering how to approach the situation, as it would've been difficult considering the strategic position you'd taken up. But for whatever reason, you guys separated, leaving us with the answer; take you prisoner. You see, we're not so much interested in Mrs. Valliere so much as the power that she wields. It's a real wild card…", she says as she with slightly more interest than before.

"Wild card… You're referring to Abigail, now?".

"Abigail is the name of her would-be familiar, correct? If so, then yes and no. The familiar's power is – by extension – the Master's power. But that's not really what I mean... You see, it's the combination of the two that is especially potent", she says something odd.

"Combination? Louise can't even use magic other than random explosions".

"Huh…?", she responds with genuine surprise. "You mean you don't know then?".

"Know… what…?".

"Boy, that girl is a Void mage", she speaks the words of a mad woman. A Void mage? Louise the Zero? How could something like that be? Then again, it would make sense. Abigail always spoke of great power within her, and it would explain why she would be unable to use the other elements properly despite having such high potential… "I don't know if she's been keeping it a secret for a reason or not, but there's more to it than that…", she trails off.

"How would you know this, though?", Guiche asks. "Whether or not Louise is a Void mage should be alien to you!".

"Our leader is old, smart and incredibly powerful. He's also respected quite a bit in some circles, though he's mostly regarded as mad. Which is true, to some regard. The man would let the world burn just to see true power. He's not evil or anything… he just… likes magic. To him, power is not a means to an end, but an end with no means. This is more or less why he's been disowned by leading Magi, but it's also why we know of your friend. But it's more than just discovering power… We need your help-", the woman is cut off by a massive torrent of light. "Wha…?!".

"Abigail!", Guiche shouts as he uses this chance to summon the power of his Earth magic into the wall behind him and create a small landside in the direction of his captors. In the midst of the turmoil, Guiche easily uses two of his golems to grab his unconscious comrades and sends them away, but not before his final words. "Let it be known! I am Guiche the Bronze, and though this is no mansion, this was my home for the night and you stood violently and unwanted upon its soil! I pity your body and soul the second time you try such foolishness!".

The woman can only look upon the knight in awe of such cunning and bravery. Despite the fact that she was told not to worry about this one, he is the one to rescue his allies. Not with power, but with quick thinking. And in the end, as he stood boldly above her where she could not reach, illuminated by the light of souls, she can't help but think to herself that he was beautiful at that moment. Unfortunately for her, it takes a while for her path to be clear, and the few men already past it were simple rogues and could not match a golem in combat.

"Damnit", she spits aloud as she regrets what he leader will say. "I have to do something!".

"I need to thank Abigail for the 'talisman' of hers, later", Guiche thinks to himself as he looks at the odd talisman the bandits deemed as a useless item.

*scene*

Salvation comes in many forms, most of which are only different forms of pain. Emotional, physical, stressful. It doesn't matter; a price must be paid. The scribe of the courage of the knight is written in blood, and only he knows just how far he has come to be the hero he is. More often than not, a hero is weak. Because they are weak, they work hard. A state of mind that wavers but never falls, and the overwhelming courage that comes with being weak. Yes, what makes a hero is not power. Such a thing can simply be given to anyone, and often enough this power is too much for them to handle and it consumes them. So what makes a hero? As I said; it is courage. The courage to stand when your knees are shaking, the courage to reach out through the darkness.

The courage to forget that you were ever really scared at all.

"Abigaaaaaaail!", the tiny voice resounds brilliantly through the cascading Souls. "Respond to me, Abigail!".

The Souls assault her relentlessly, but she carries on forward. Receiving lacerations and abrasions mean nothing to her now, in fact, she can't even feel it. She notices when something hits her with enough force to knock her back, but the only response she has is to push forward harder. Won't she die, though? Those thoughts are in her head, but at the same time, it's like a seperate person. To her, they're just words somebody inside of her head is saying that don't really concern her. Right now, her only objective is to walk into the torrent of light.

It hurts, though. It hurts so bad. It has to. Why? Why does she keep pushing though? This power will tear her apart, so why? She can't think straight anymore; she's lost a lot of blood. She can't use healing magic, either. Why is she doing this? To whom does she owe such efforts? I don't think she can see anymore, but she remembers that warmth. It's that warmth in the center of the light that guides her. No, that's wrong, it's not that she can't see anymore, it's that she's no longer conscious. How? How is she still moving forward if she can't even think anymore?

"Because, I must move forward", a voice resounds in my mind.

Who was that? It sounds so familiar to me, but I can't think. Where am I, anyway? Hold on, how could I hear that voice? There's no one around me. Oh, that's right, this is the Soul Realm within me. I think... I was doing something important, but I can't really remember. Oh, she fell again. I guess she's not getting up again this time.

"I must move forward...", the voice echos again. And in tandem, the battered body of this strange creature stands slowly to its feet again.

She's still going... I feel like I'm going to explode. Anxiety is flowing through me like a sieve. I don't know what to do... I...

"Abigail...", the voice says one more time. "Don't forget... You are a beacon to lost souls... But you don't really know what that means, do you?", the voice speaks to me calmly like a gently breeze and sweetly like the aroma of a flower. "It means... You shine like a star to me... so that's why... I'll never lose my way... So long as the Light exists... the Void within me will be filled... And I will be strong".

My eyes open as I feel a warmth upon my cheek.

"Good morning, Abigail", a sweet voice says to me under ragged breath.

"...Good morning, Master".

I pull her in to my chest with my one remaining arm as the light of my souls return to me, one thousand pounds lighter.

"I think... A new kind of monster has awakened inside of me, Master", I whisper into her ear.

"What do you mean?", she says as she looks up at me quizzically.

"I am really, REALLY mad!", I scream as I hold my fist up into the air, and sparks of Soul Light shoot off from it. "That aside", I look down to her with a smile. "I think we need to take care of the others".

"You're right! Verdante approached me as well just before I came here, so they're probably in trouble!", she says anxiously.

"Who's in trouble?", a familiar voice says. "Certainly not the magnificent Guiche of the Br-", he's cut off.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Tabitha!", she says as she clumsily makes her way to Tabitha's side and grabs her hand.

"I am safe", she says blatantly.

"Thanks to me!", Guiche yells.

"Hold on, where's Kirche?", I ask.

"I'm not sure... I thought she went with you. By the way, what was that light? We followed to but all we found was you two and a one hundred meter diameter of destruction...", he says as he eyes me.

"Honestly, what the hell do you think it was at this point?!", I yell at him, to which he quickly backs up. "I'm tired of all of these accusing looks. I'm a damned demon, and you all know that well! I don't expect to be treated like anything but, however, if you or Kirche are going to have me killed or something then what do you think you can even do?!", my eyes glow blue. "If you removed me, Louise would be in great danger! Can't you understand?! You can, right?! If I'm gone, fools like you can't protect her!", light forms around my hand. "Don't you see what we're facing here? These people are after MY Master! Can YOU protect her? Do you even know what that means?! She commands the power of the Void, Guiche, she's the only one even capable of saving this world from the darkness in the corners and *I* am the only one who can protect her! ME! AND THAT IS *ALL* I AM GOING TO DO!", I punch the ground in anger as I scream, releasing a wave of energy that everyone braces for and - much to their surprise - feels nothing.

"But I'm different now", I say very calmly. "I think I really understand before; I was just scared. I still am, of this power. It is the power of an army within me, each soul with a will of its own. I can hear them all, each day. Some call me their God, others call me their hell. Some urge me to destruction, others to stagnation. But in the end, that doesn't really matter. Heh... I was a fool to think I was special. I'm really no different than anyone else... except that I'm a demon. My heart has many sides, and the fact that I have failed so many times is not because of the souls, but because my heart wavered and they doubted me. I saw something earlier though... Even though my heart was gone, I was moved. It made me think, "just why does one fight?".

I clench my fist and smile.

"Because they want to win!", I look to Guiche. "I am the Familiar of Zero, the Void Mage, and I'm going to show you the face of a true hero!", I say grandly as they all stare at me, patiently awaiting. And then thrown off by the fact that I point at Louise. "You.", I say with a warm smile. "You will save the world one day, Louise, and its people will love you. But for now, let's start with Kirche", I say as I turn to walk.

"That power...", Tabitha calls to me as I take my first step. "It is... fully yours now... You... Understand it...?", she asks.

I stop for a moment before looking down and saying softly, "I am Fire...".

_Innocent destruction._

**_TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!_**


End file.
